


Koi No Yokan

by petalouda85



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Multi, Sleeping Beauty AU, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2018-09-26 22:07:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 43,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9924077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petalouda85/pseuds/petalouda85
Summary: When he was born, he was cursed. Doomed to die at 18 unless he joined the Dark Side. Snoke is confident but there remains one threat, it coming in the form of a prediction made by one of the Jedi Masters: Ben would meet his true love on his tenth birthday and this elusive individual would be the only one that could awaken Ben from his eternal sleep.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I love Japanese, okay. Such a beautiful language
> 
> Anyway, this is the third Kylux fic I’m working on, which I probably shouldn’t do but whatever. This is a story based off of a musical I saw as a kid, which was Sleeping Beauty. However, plot-wise, it doesn’t have much in common with the Disney version of the fairytale. 
> 
> I made some changes from the regular SW verse. First off, both Obi-Wan and Yoda are still alive and well. And there are some added abilities of the Light Side and the Dark (not sure if they are canon or not so I’m just going to assume that they’re not.)
> 
> I hope you guys like this.

The news spread quickly through the galaxy: Leia Organa, the general of the Resistance and Queen of New Alderaan, had given birth to her first child. The joy felt could not be understated as this child was not only the symbol of a new beginning for the war ravaged galaxy but also a symbol of the resilience and the rebirth of the Alderaan people.

As custom in Alderaan, the child’s name was only to be revealed at an official ceremony, the name only known to the parents. The ceremony was broadcasted throughout the entire galaxy, the Senate even temporarily pausing the debate to hear the official announcement. In a small speech, the two parents explained that the name they had chosen was in honor of a dear friend, one who had played a vital role within the Galactic Civil War. It was then Leia announced the name loud and clear, it echoing to the people, the Senate and beyond.

Benjamin Organa Solo.

One custom out of the way, the next one came: a private party to celebrate the important birth, which would host the members of the Senate and other high ranking officials who would bring gifts for the child, congratulate the parents and make good wishes for the future. Such a party was in planning but Han and Leia had agreed to keep the guest list small, it consisting of family, friends, and officials they simply couldn’t afford to deny an invitation.

Leia had had no intentions of inviting officials from planets in order to forge alliances with them but the Chancellor had managed to get the Queen to invite two planets that had refused to join the Senate: Ge and Mandalore. Mandalore wasn’t much of an issue for Leia as Obi-Wan Kenobi lived there and the Grand Duchess could just send him as a representative. Ge, however, was a different story. She knew no one on the planet and the Genian King was not overly fond of outsiders. Not to mention that he had publicly scorned the Senate twice within the last month alone when they tried to convince him to join the Senate. To get Ge on a favorable note with the Senate was merely a play for the Chancellor to get her hands on the precious resources and rare metals, which would significantly increase the power and wealth of the Republic.

Why the King of Ge ever agreed to come to the party was a mystery. It was likely that he was trying to save face.

The man was courteous enough to greet Leia and Han politely, speaking sugarcoated words of congratulations and well-wishes for the future

“Glad that was short.” Han commented as the Genian King walked away.

“It’ll probably be the last time it’s that short.” Leia responded, ignoring Han’s retort when she spotted Luke walking in with other guests she had been longing to see. She ran up to her brother and embraced him tightly, no words spoken between them but every feeling and thought exchanged through the Force. She let go of her brother when another figure appeared in her vision and she proceeded to embrace him next. “Obi-Wan.”

“It’s good to see you again.” The elder man responded. “Now, where is this baby that you named after me?” The two quickly rushed over to the bassinet where the child was, dressed in white and looking up curiously at all that admired him. His smile becoming wider, the elder man reached down and took the child out. “Hello, Ben.” He cooed, looking over the babe’s face and already finding the similarities between his parents. As he continued to look, he could sense the Force flowing through the child.

“Strong with the Force, he is.” Master Yoda spoke as he approached the pair with Luke at his side.

“I knew that even before he was born.” Leia added as she took her son back from Obi-Wan and then put him back into the bassinet.

“Hmmmm… Yes.” The Master chuckled. “Become a Jedi, young Benjamin could. But speak of that later, we can. A gift for Benjamin, I have.” The announcement caught the attention of the other guests, who quickly came closer to the Jedi. “Opened my eyes to new abilities, meditation has. One, looking into the future is. Sight into his future, my gift to Benjamin is.” As the parents and the other guest stepped aside, the old master closed his eyes and reached out his hand towards the bassinet, breathing slowly but in a controlled manner while everyone watched in bated silence, curious to hear what the Master would say. “Hm… Yes. At 10, meet the one he loves, he will. And at 18, marry them, he will. Become a powerful Jedi he will as well.” As the onlookers reacted with approved murmurs, Yoda continued to look, thinking that perhaps he would be able to see who the individual was that would enrapture Ben’s heart but instead, he saw something else. Pain, confusion, death. Then he felt something different, it not coming from the baby. “I sense something.” He muttered to himself. He lowered his hand and turned, his gaze on the door, the other two Jedi following his gaze. “Near the dark side is.” By now, all had noted the change in the demeanor of the Jedi but none could comprehend what was happening until the doors flew open and a sudden cold rushed in.

In the door was a dark figure. He was dressed in black, it making is paper white skin appear whiter, and his eyes were the same empty color. He exhumed an air of fear and uneasiness, it further spread by the hideousness of his malformed face. The figure smirked at the fear radiating off of the individuals present and he stepped forward, those near him taking a few steps back.

“Snoke.” Yoda said.

“I had heard a child had been born.” Snoke spoke slowly, his eyes scouring the room until they eventually settled on the bassinet, his smirk evolving into something more devious. “I could sense him from the Unknown Regions.”

The silence was immediately broken by the sound of a blaster firing three times and Snoke diverging each bolt with a wave of his hand. One more wave and Leia, who grabbed the blaster the instant the uninvited guest had spoken about her son, went flying into the wall. As Luke ran to his sister, Han retrieved the weapon and shot too, only for it to fly out of his hand and explode.

“I have no desire to fight.” Snoke continued, waving his hand again and making Han fly and join Leia, “I simply wish to see the child.” He went to the bassinet and looked upon the tiny human. He could already feel how strong the Force was within him. “So powerful.” He cooed, reaching down to caress the babe’s cheek; he immediately began to cry.

“He will not be turned by the likes of you, Snoke.” Obi-Wan spoke, his lightsaber unsheathed and lit.

“The Dark Side and the Light flows within him and turn he will.” Snoke lifted his hand and held it palm up, a black orb appearing within it as he spoke, “The pull to the Dark will be strong and it will pursue him his entire life. He will be my apprentice before he reaches the age of 18. If not…” He paused, glaring at the first the Jedi and then the boy’s parents, “He will die.”

“NO!” Leia shouted but it was too late. The orb flew out of Snoke’s hand and embedded itself into the baby’s chest, who was howling by this point. Obi-Wan headed straight for Snoke but when he swung his lightsaber, the Force wielder was gone. He scoured the room once and felt for the man’s dark presence but he was gone.

In the meantime, Han and Leia had run for their son, the female taking the babe out of the crib and trying to calm him down, all the while trying to keep her own emotions of rage and fear at bay.

“That orb… What was that?” Luke inquired, remaining near his sister as though Snoke would suddenly reappear and exact more cruelty upon them.

“Ancient Sith trick.” Yoda answered, “Much like a curse.”

“Can you remove it?” Leia asked, holding her son even closer than before, the child having gone quiet.  

“I cannot. But change it, can I.” He beckoned Leia to lower the child so they were on the same level. Once more, the Master closed his eyes and placed one hand over Ben’s forehead and the other over the spot where the black orb had entered. As he spoke, a blue aura appeared. “Die, Benjamin will not. Sleep, he will, until his loved one comes and wakes him. Yes… Sleep, he will.”

A breath of relief was released by nearly all present, the danger seemingly gone for them but for Han, Leia, the fear was far from gone.

* * *

“There must be something we can do.” Han said. “Track him down, hide Ben from him. There’s always a solution to problems like this.”

“Vanished, Snoke has.” Yoda answered. “Impossible to sense him, it is.”

“Then we need to find this loved one Master Yoda was speaking of.” Obi-Wan offered as he stared into the artificial flames that provided some light in the room.

“But that could be anybody. It could be some Gungan kid that would never set a foot on Alderaan or it could be a 50 year old lady he happens to meet on his 10th birthday.” Leia retorted

“Master,” Luke said, “is it possible for you to look again into Ben’s future to try and find this person?” Yoda shook his head.

“Tried, I have but nothing, I saw.” He murmured. “Ready to reveal them the Force is not.”

“Then what do we do?” Han asked. Before an answer could be formulated, there was a knock on the door. Being closest, Obi-Wan moved to open it. After some murmurs, he turned to Leia

“Leia, the King of Ge wants to talk to you.” Surprise was definitely the most prominent emotion in the air at the statement. Leia nodded to the elder man, who stepped aside to allow the King to enter. The King bowed to Leia silently.

“You wanted to talk to me?” Leia inquired.

“Yes. I want to offer my help.”

“Help? How?”

“I am willing to overlook by previous troubles with the Senate and offer you whatever you desire from my planet in order to protect your son.” The King explained, the man very well aware of the awed looks he was given by the other’s present. “You may ask for soldiers, weapons, whatever it is you wish; I am even willing to hand over clypsoate to you.” The awed looks were even greater now; even Leia looked to be in utter shock at the offer of clypsoate. “Lastly, if you desire none of those things, I have two children myself. When your son turns ten, I can send them to meet him; perhaps one of them will be the loved one the Jedi Master spoke of.”

“And what do you want in return?” Leia asked.

“All I ask in return is that you go speak to the Chancellor and ask her to stop asking me to join the Senate.”

Leia went silent for a moment, thinking about what the King had said. He would offer her anything she wanted and all he wanted in return was that she asked the Chancellor to stop bothering the King and the planets he ruled over. It seemed too good to be true.

“What is the catch in this offer?” The man smiled at her question

“I knew you would ask that. The catch is that this is a one time offer. Once you decide what you’d like from me, you can’t ask anything more of me as long as I’m alive. This offer… I’m not doing this as a King. I’m doing this as a father.”

Leia nodded, pondering his words as she looked down at the baby in her arm.

“I will think about it.” She answered. The King promptly bowed and left the room, leaving the people remaining in utter silence.

“Did that just happen?” Han spoke, fully aware that having a Genian offer help to a non-Genian was as likely as having a Rathar as a pet.

“Indeed, it did.” Obi-Wan responded, a small smile on his face. “Which will you choose?” He asked as he turned to Leia.

“I don’t know.” She answered. It was not often that she didn’t have an answer for something and, normally, she would scold herself for her indecisiveness but this time, she didn’t care. Fearful as she was for the future, the offer of the Genian King and the words Yoda had spoken had finally given her a sense of hope that Ben would be safe.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come bug me on Tumblr: [petalouda85.tumblr.com](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After writer's block, a bunch of homework assignments, and finals, I'm back with an update. Sorry, it took so long. 
> 
> So, here is where the story will take a drastic different path compared to the Disney version. This twist is also what I liked the most about the source material. I hope you guys like it

The news of the threat against the prince spread quickly on the planet, some believing it to be a legitimate threat while others thought it was merely a bluff. Regardless of what one believed, no one doubted that the Queen and her family believed it as there were intense searches on the planet for Snoke, the search soon extending to the system and then the galaxy. But, despite their efforts, nothing was found and the talk of the threat began to fade.

Even the ones that had believed it to be legitimate joined the mindset that the threat was just a threat and nothing to be concerned with. With each passing year, the threat was forgotten a little bit more to the point that they didn’t speak of it.

For those that had been present, the curse was not spoken of but it certainly was not forgotten. In an attempt to protect her son, Leia had asked Obi-Wan, Luke and Yoda to begin teaching her son the Jedi way as soon as he had turned five. The four adults hoped that, with the right guidance, the struggle that Snoke had spoken of would be kept to a minimum and controllable level. So far, it was working.

For only a boy of ten, he showed skill of a Padawan who had studied from years. He had great skill with a practice saber, he showed great control of his emotions and he could empty himself and meditate with ease. It made his parents and his uncle proud and put their worries at ease.

Ben spent a lot of time with his Uncle and fellow Padawans at the new Jedi temple practicing his skills but he frequently visited his parents. Another such visit was on the day of his tenth birthday, which he knew would be more exciting than most.

He knew that today would be the day that he would meet the person that he would love.

When his parents had first told him about the predictions of Master Yoda, he had been worried. After all according to the Jedi Code, he was not allowed to have attachments like that. However, the New Jedi Code had had a few changes. Certain attachments were allowed now, the new ruling changing the boy’s fear into happiness. In fact, as his tenth birthday came closer, he became excited and began to imagine who his love would be. He created so many different scenarios that it was impossible for him to pick a single one.

When the day of his tenth birthday finally came, he traveled with his uncle back to New Alderaan. He wanted to ask his uncle so many questions and once they arrived and were heading into the palace, they finally spilled.

"Who will be my loved one, Uncle Luke?" The ten year old asked with enthusiasm, eyes on the ground as he began jumping from tile to tile. Luke smiled softly.

“The Force will reveal them to you in time.”

“Hmm…” The boy pouted, aiming to jump to a tile a bit further away. He missed by a hair. “How will I know who my love is? Will I just fall in love or something?”

“Feel love right away you may not, but feel knowledge of future love, you will.”

“Master Yoda.”

“Master Luke, Benjamin.” The old master greeted. “Going well, your training is, hmm?” As the boy nodded enthusiastically, his uncle placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Ben is a good Padawan and he is already showing great control with the Force.”

“Hm… Good. Come, Benjamin.” Yoda said, beckoning the boy to follow him. “Anxious to see you, your parents are.” The excited child followed the old Master towards the grand door in front of them. Once opened, the child dashed into the room, heading for his parents.

“Mom! Mom!” He called, running into his mother’s open arms.  

“I missed you so much.” Leia said, pressing a kiss on her son’s cheek while embracing him tightly.

“I missed you too.” The boy responded, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

“Is everything alright? Do you still like it at the Temple?” She asked as she pulled away on order to look at her boy.

With a smile, he nodded.

“Uncle Luke says I’m doing all the exercises and training very good and Obi-Wan and Yoda said I have good control of the Force.”

“I’m happy to hear it.” The boy smiled at his mother. He wanted to say more to her but the appearance of his father distracted him.

“Just turned ten and you’re already sounding like you Uncle.” Hans chuckled after he and Ben had had the same conversation he just had with his mother.

“That’s not a bad thing.” Ben said. “Then I’m strong with the Force and wise and a Jedi.”

“Now you’re describing every current Jedi Master.” Hans jokingly pointed out. At the mention of the Jedi Masters, Ben asked a pressing question.

“Is Obi-Wan here? He said he’d be here.” Obi-Wan had left the Jedi Temple a week earlier for Mandalore. He hadn’t said why but Ben decided that it was family matters; it was always family matters. As soon as he had asked the question, he spotted the older man heading towards him. The child repeated his conversation for the third time before he finally got a chance to ask why Obi-Wan had gone to Mandalore.

“Do you remember when I said that I would introduce you to my family someday?” Obi-Wan asked the child, to which he responded with a nod. The old man smiled, “I managed to bring my granddaughter today. Would you like to meet her?”

“Sure.” Ben replied, the thought of the predictions briefly flashing in his mind. Hand in hand, Obi-Wan walked through the crowd towards a small group of Mandalorians, where Ben was able to spot the silhouette of a child. Obi-Wan entered the crowd and took the child by her hand.

“Ben, this is my granddaughter: Rey.”

She certainly wasn’t what he had anticipated. She was obviously the daughter of the Grand Duke of Mandalore but she certainly didn’t look like one. He had anticipated her to be wearing something along the lines of a dress made from expensive fabrics, expensive jewels and her hair done up without a single strand out of place. Rey was the opposite. Not a single jewel in sight, her hair done up messily in three buns and, oddly, wearing the robes of a Padawan.

“Hi!” Rey piped, waving a little at Ben, her bold told surprising the boy yet again while making her grandfather chuckle.

“Rey will be joining the Jedi order soon.” Obi-Wan said, “She’ll be training alongside you.”

“Is that allowed? To be accepted this late?” Ben asked; he was familiar with how the old order was with elder children joining but not with the policies of the new order. The elder man chuckled again, looking down at Rey.

“It was more a hassle with your father than it was Yoda.” The girl giggled and nodded.

“Papa wanted to send guards with me.”

“Really?”

“Yep.” She pipped once more, her attention now on Ben. “But I told him that I’d become a Jedi and become strong enough to protect myself. But he also told me to stay with my grandpa.”

“Will you?” Ben asked, it save to do so as the adults had moved away from the two children. Rey leaned in closer.

“No.” The two giggled mischievously. “What’s the Temple like?” She asked once their laughter had subsided.

“It’s big…” Ben answered, sitting down in a window sill away from the crowd. Rey joined him, her expression telling him that she wasn’t impressed.

“There’s a lot of big buildings everywhere.” She argued.

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see then; I don’t really know how to describe it. According to my uncle, it looks a lot like the old Temple on Coruscant. The inside anyway.”

“Are there a lot of Padawans there?”

“A few. My uncle is hoping for more but there’s only so many Padawans three masters can train at the same time.”

“And training… who do you train with?”

“My uncle mostly but I have trained with Obi-Wan and Yoda too.”

“Hm… I’m hoping I get to train with my grandpa but Yoda would be nice too.”

“Yoda is a wise master, as is Obi-Wan. After all, your grandfather trained mine and he was said to be a very powerful Jedi.”

“Anakin Skywalker, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to be as powerful as he was?”

“Well…” Ben hesitated for a moment, “I do want to be powerful like him but as I get older, it’s possible I’ll change my mind. And other career paths will open too. I mean, my mom is a queen and general and my grandmother was a queen and a senator; I think some people would rather have me as a King or Senator than a Jedi.”

“Is there any you want to be right now?”

“I don’t know; I can’t be all three.”

“Maybe you could be.” She sat up straight and cleared her throat and said as if she were an announcer, “Introducing Prince Ben Organa-Solo, Senator of New Alderaan and Master Jedi. It’s quite a catchy title, actually.” She finished in her normal voice.

He was about to respond to her statement when he heard the tiny clink of jewelry hitting the floor. He quickly spotted the item as it was rolling towards him and Rey. It was a gold bracelet, the extravagant design being unlike anything he had seen.

He didn’t need to guess where the owner was as a girl, around his age, came running up, her gaze on the floor in search. However, when she noted that the bracelet was near Ben and Rey, she stopped in her path; she seemed a bit nervous.

Ben jumped off of the window sill, grabbed the bracelet and held it out to the girl. She stared at him, seemingly hesitant to take it but, after a few moments, she did, placing the jewelry back on her wrist. As she did, Ben noted her foreign outfit.

She wore a dress of some kind, which reached to her knees; underneath were bagged pants. The fabric was a soft white silk and a heavily embroidered gold trim added color to the outfit. Her scalp was hidden by a cap made of the same white but the veil clipped on top was see-through and revealed a long black braid. Adding to the ensemble was her jewelry. The bracelet that had fallen was one just one of the countless many, the fallen one being the most extravagant of them all. In addition, she wore a tiara of some sort; it decked her forehead in gold and had two long earring like decorations dangling from it. The last decoration he spotted were the insides of her hands, which were painted. In the center of her palm was a black circle and her fingers were covered in the same black, from the tip of the finger until the first point where the finger bends.

“Are you Genian?” Ben asked; unable to pinpoint the style to any of the planets he was familiar with, Ge was a reasonable guess. The girl didn’t respond. “What’s your name?”

“ _Main_ …” She said softly but it didn’t sound like a name to the other two children. “Speak not…” The girl continued, her voice heavily accented.

“She doesn’t know Basic.” Rey quickly concluded.

“Wait here!” Ben said and he dashed away, leaving the two girls together in silence. Neither moved until Rey motioned to the girl to take the vacant spot in the sill.

“Rey.” She said, pointing to herself when the Genian child had sat down.

“Paro.” The girl responded, pointing to herself as well.

There wasn’t much else they could talk about with each other at this point so Rey resorted to talking slowly about whatever topic popped into her mind. But that soon diverged into her pointing at things within sight and saying the word out loud, which Paro would repeat. They managed to get through parts of the body, counting to ten and parts of the room when Ben came bouncing back, C3PO on his heels.

“I’m not quite as fast as you are, Master Benjamin.” The droid complained as her reached the children, Rey and Ben giggling at him while Paro looked on confused. “How can I be of service?”

“She doesn’t speak Basic.” Ben explained while pointing at Paro.

“And which language do you require; I am fluent in over 6 million forms of communication.”

“What they speak on Ge?” Ben posited; he had no idea what language was spoken on the planet.

“Ge has several hundred language and the entire Genian system is home to several thousand; you will have to be more specific.” Rey was about to make a suggestion when Paro spoke quietly in her native tongue. C3PO immediately responded in the same language and, after Paro spoke a little more, the droid said.

“The Princess says she speaks the primary language on Ge.” He paused again as Paro spoke again, “And she wants the two of you to teach her to speak Basic. Master Benjamin, if you say yes, it would be advisable to move to the library; it’s much better suited for linguistic development.”

After this was all repeated to Paro, the three children and the droid left the room and headed for the quiet library. Rey and Paro began entertaining themselves by chasing each other around the droid, who told the two to move slower lest they injury themselves; they ignored him and only stopped when they reached their destination. From there, they grabbed many easy-to-read books and proceeded to teach the Genian girl Basic to the best of their abilities. Granted, she wasn’t learning much in regards to how sentences were formed and what was and wasn’t grammatical but she learned many words and managed to understand the phonetics of the new language; faster than anticipated, they were on the fifth book.

" _Ben_." The young child gasped at the sound of the soft menacing voice. He looked around, trying to find a source but all he saw was the rows of book and the bots flying around organizing the room.

"Is something wrong?" Rey asked.

"I... I just thought I heard something." He muttered. He gave an assuring nod to his other friend and they continued with the reading for a few more minutes.

" _Ben_." It was the same voice, but this time it was accompanied by an uneasy tug in his gut. He didn't know what it was and he decided to ignore it. " _Ben_!"

"Did you hear that?" Ben asked, once more examining the room for anything that could've procured that voice.

"Hear what?" Rey asked while Paro muttered something to C3PO

"The Princess is inquiring if you're alright, sir." The droid said.

"I'm fine. I thought... I thought I heard someone call my name."

"No one called, Ben." Rey assured though the expression on her face suggested something other than assurance. While she returned to the book, Ben scoured the room once more, unwilling to admit that it was just his imagination. It couldn't have been his imagination. Eventually, he spotted something he hadn't before.

They were standing by the door, which he was certain he had closed on the way in. They were dressed in complete black, their skin had an unhealthy pale tone and their face was deformed. The stranger was staring intensely at him, making the child feel anxious. H glanced back at his new friends, who had stopped reading and were looking around them as if sensing something.

"Do you-" He began, but upon looking back at the door, the figure disappeared, walking down the hallway. Due to some pull he couldn't explain, Ben got up and ran after the stranger, ignoring the calls from Rey and Paro.

" _Follow me, Ben_." It was the voice again but it didn't startle the boy, for now he could sense that the voice belonged to the stranger in black. He continued to run, always reaching a hallway in time for the stranger to disappear into the next one.

"Wait!" The child cried as the figure headed outside into the garden and promptly hid behind a hedge.

" _Come with me, Benjamin_." It was leading him into the maze. " _I can show you the ways of the Force. They only tell you of the Light. But the Dark... it can make you so much stronger. Much stronger than the Light ever could_."

Ben listened to the voice intently, barely paying attention to which direction he was heading in. Then, in the middle of the maze, he found the stranger. They were staring at him, almost smiling. Slowly, they reached out a pale, bony hand, beckoning him to take it.

Urged by the same pull as before, Ben reached for the hand. He wanted to take it. He didn't know why. The pull... It felt like a connection of some kind; he couldn't explain it. And yet, before the hands made contact, Ben stopped. Another force within him told him to not touch the stranger, this force creating images of hatred, anger, loneliness and fear. He stepped away, the smile on the stranger turning to a scowl.

" _We will meet again_." They said and, with a blast chillier than the frigid air of Hoth, they were gone, leaving the area eerily quiet. The first sound he heard caused him to scream and he half anticipated the stranger to be back. However, upon turning, he found himself looking at a small tabby kitten, it meowing at him.

"You scared me, little guy." Ben muttered, kneeling down and lightly petting the small creature's head.

"Little lady, actually." A voice next to him said.

"I'm sorry?" Ben inquired to the boy standing next to him.

"She's a female." He explained as he joined Ben and knelt down, the kitten leaving Ben's hand to crawl onto the lap of the boy. "She's cute, isn't she?"

"Very." The Prince responded, smiling as the cat nudged her head against the boy's chest. "Does she have a name?"

"Well, her full name is Millicent but me and my youngest brother call her Millie." As the boy continued to play with the animal, Ben took a few seconds to look the boy over. He worked in the castle, a fact observed by the royal crest the boy wore on his sleeve; he was probably a kitchen boy, judging by the dirty scuffs on his face and his red hair being tied back with the piece of string. Still, dirty as he was, Ben was not disgusted, as one might expect from a royal.

"What's your name?"

"Armitage. It's a stupid name, I know."

"It's not the worst I've heard." Ben said with a light chuckle. "I'm-"

"I already know who you are. You're the Prince." When Ben confirmed this, the boy said, "Then I need to go." And he got up.

"Why?" Ben asked, upset that Armitage wanted to go so quickly; they had only just met and he had enjoyed their conversation so far.

"Because... I'm not allowed to talk to higher-ups." He explained slowly, keeping his sight away from Ben by paying attention to his kitten.

"Why?"

"It's... complicated." And before Ben could say another word, the boy was gone. For some reason, Ben stared at the spot where he had last seen the boy. He wasn’t sure how long he had been staring but his trance was broken when he heard Rey and Paro calling for him. It took some time, but he found his way out of the maze and stumbled upon them.

“What happened?” Rey asked.

“Nothing.” Ben responded hastily, his sight falling on Paro. She did not seem to believe what he was saying. Regardless of whether or not that was the true, she said nothing and pointed to the castle. The three plus the droid immediately headed back, having small conversations and playing around with each other, Ben’s mind eventually drifted back to the boy. He was curious about him and he had wanted to know more about him. Like many times today, he couldn’t explain why he wanted this. Perhaps, he would find an answer. For now, play with his newest friends, he would.

\----

“Chancellor?”

“What is it?” The female answered, her tone oozing disinterest

“I just returned from New Alderaan. If you recall, it was the tenth birthday of the Prince today.”

“Why should that interest me?”

“Well, if you recall, when the boy was born, Master Yoda made a prediction that the Prince would meet the person he would marry today. Whom he met would be of interest to you.” The Chancellor turned her chair to face him.

“Who?”

“The daughter of the Grand Duke of Mandalore and the heir apparent of Ge.” Hearing the names, the Chancellor smirked.

“Perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments on the previous chapter! They made me so giddy :D
> 
> Come bug me on my tumblr. petalouda85.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what happened but for a time, all desire to write had left me. Hence, why this took forever. I hope I'll be able to put out a new chapter for this a bit sooner.  
> Anyway, joining the story: a few more redheads. Enjoy :D

_The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural._

Those words were constantly repeating themselves in his dreams of late. The dreams came with a little variation – the name Darth Plagueis and the stranger beckoning him were some variations – but the phrase he could count on being there every night since the day of his birthday. The boy had no idea what it was supposed to mean. Yes, it talked of power, unnatural power of the Dark Side, but what kind of power? He could have, he should have asked Yoda or Obi-Wan or Luke but he didn’t. He was scared. Of what he wasn’t sure but it was enough to keep him silent. He hoped that the dreams would go away on their own.

A small mercy was that his new friends were able to keep his mind occupied from the dreams. The three children spent the two days following their meeting playing together and attempting to teach Paro Basic. On the third and final day, Rey and Ben made the discovery that Paro was sensitive to the Force too. The discovery immediately came with questions of whether or not the Princess would be able to come to the Temple as well but she declined, stating she had already stated training with a Bendu back on Ge; although disappointed, promises of keeping contact were made.

But once his friends returned to their respective homes, there was nothing that could distract Ben from his dreams any longer. By day, he would contemplate the words but nothing came to mind and even attempts to briefly escape the torment through mediation hadn’t worked. Once night came, he spent hours awake once the dream had passed, his eyes often slowly releasing tears into his pillow. There were visible bags under his eyes and yet not even his mother seemed to notice them; he thought that even senatorial duty wouldn’t keep her so occupied that she wouldn’t notice a shift in Ben’s complexion. Not even his Uncle seemed to have noticed a shift in the boy as the elder man spent most of the day locked up in his room. His father… he had run off on the Millennium Falcon with Chewie but, even if he had been there, Ben doubted that the man would’ve noticed.

The day before he was going to return to the Temple with Luke, Ben ran out of the massive castle to seek refuge in the gardens. They had offered him peace and comfort in the past but the encounter with the stranger had left the garden with a colder feel to it. Still, the boy felt less afraid here than he did in the castle. He wandered around, going to his usual spots before he ended up at the orchards, where he could see several servants working to pick the ripe fruits of the trees. He sat down nearby and watched them absentmindedly.

“Would you like one?” The voice made Ben jump but upon looking up, he was slightly surprised to see a servant holding a fruit out to him. The surprise had been at the age of the man. The voice, which was scratchy and coarse, sounded as though it belonged to an old man that had smoked his entire life but this servant looked as though he hadn’t yet reached his 18th year. The surprise wore off quickly and Ben nodded.

“Thank you.” He said as the servant handed the food to him. He smiled in response and promptly headed back to the orchard, stepping up on a stepladder to reach the higher branches of the tree. Ben watched him, drawn in by some unknown fascination, maybe a fascination at the stark difference between their lives; he had never had to work to pay for anything in his life while this servant had probably worked every day to get to where he was. Judging by the poor state of his clothes, Ben suspected he wasn’t very well off but the smile on his face gave an indicator that, perhaps, life wasn’t that bad.

In the distance, a man came zooming by, obviously traveling on some transport vehicle hidden from Ben’s view, but both he and the servant ignored him and continued with their own business.

“You seem troubled, sir.” The servant pointed out after a few minutes of silence. Ben looked up at him, the fruit still untouched in his hand.

“What makes you say that?” The Prince responded as the servant descended down the ladder, more fresh fruit in his basket.

“You’re moping; I could see the frown from up there.” The man explained, removing his dirtied gloves and sitting down beside the young Prince. They sat silently, Ben appreciative that the servant was waiting for him to say the first word; no pressuring, no pushing, just patiently waiting for him to be ready.

“Well…”

“Mr. Bill!” A working droid appeared from behind a tree, its robotic voice expressing urgency.

“What is it?”

“It’s young Bren, sir!”

“Oh no…” Ben heard the servant whisper before the man sped off in the direction the droid had come from. Curious, Ben followed him, ignoring the calls from the droid to slow down. He had lost sight of the other person quite quickly but judging by the sound of shouting, Ben was nearby.

“I told you to stay out of my way, you piece of trash! Why your bitch of a mother didn’t dump you with a bunch of slavers is beyond me.” He heard whimpering and another voice joined; it sounded as though it belonged to a ten year old boy.

“Stop it!”

One more turn and Ben was greeted by the sight of the Overseer, an old man with a grisly face, slapping the boy who had screamed at him across the cheek, sending him to the ground. The boy quickly sat up and revealed his face to Ben; it was Armitage. As the other boy crawled to him, Bill stepped between them and the Overseer. As words were exchanged, Ben stepped back into the shadows, unable to be seen but still able to see and hear what was happening.

“If that useless brother of yours is in my way once more, I’ll run him over.” The old man snapped at Bill, who was biting his lip. Ben could tell he wanted to retort or do something but he only nodded.

“Sorry, sir. It won’t happen again.” The old man gave a look of disbelief but said nothing more, throwing a dismissive hand. The instant the Overseer had turned, Bill turned to his brother, while Armitage embraced the small child.

“Let’s go home.” Bill told the two, helping the small one up and grabbing hold of both his hand and elbow, leading the younger boys away from the orchards.

His curiosity piqued, Ben followed the three brothers, the three heading towards a side of the garden that the prince had never been. They were nearly at the very edge of the area when the house appeared, though Ben would hardly call it that. It was more like a hut, with shutters instead of windows and a door that looked as though it were ready to fall of the hinges, the lock in the same decrepit state. Once the three were in, Ben snuck closer and dared a peek inside.

The inside wasn’t much better than the outside. It was one room, a table with three chairs next to a small stove and a small storage cupboard. Tucked in the corner was a bed, it next to a ladder that led to another small sleeping area above. The walls were bland and crumbling, it holding nothing to brighten the room. In fact, the only thing Ben could see that was even remotely close to decoration or anything recreational were little figurines that appeared to be made from old wires.

His attention was diverted when Bill had the young boy sit down, which was when the Prince noticed for the first time that the boy had been wearing a blindfold; it didn’t take long to figure out why as Bill removed the rag to reveal that the boy’s lids were swollen shut.

“Are they hurting at all?” Bill asked his brother.

“No, they’re just itchy.”

“Armie-“

“Got it.” Armitage quickly headed to the cupboard and retrieved a small container from it, a balm, Ben found out as Bill opened it and smeared a decent amount of the soothing paste on the lids of his younger brother.

As the eldest did this, Armitage returned to the cupboard and retrieved two items: a thin, gray, ratty looking blanket and a strip of clean white cloth. Bill wrapped the white cloth around Bren’s eyes and Armitage placed the blanket over the boy’s shoulders.

“You okay?” Armitage asked, Bill stepping away to put the balm away.

“Is Millie here?” Bren asked softly.

“Not right now.” His brother responded and Ben could see Bren’s shoulders slump at the news.

“She’ll be back before you know it.” Bill assured, removing the scarf he had been wearing, revealing a scar from a blaster bolt on his Adam’s apple. An injury for a fight with the remnants of the Empire, Ben figured.

Ben wasn’t sure how long he watched but a misplacement of his foot caused a loud enough sound that the three inhabitants of the hut would hear it, so he ran back into the tall hedges. He ended up lost twice but he managed to remember the path he took from the hut back to the palace. With what he had in mind, he would need to remember that path.

\---

Sleep never came easily to Bill. If the Galactic Civil War and the subsequent fights had taught the 16-year-old anything is that it was wiser to stay awake at night and, if one desperately needed to sleep, that you had to sleep with one eye open. In addition, it was easier for him to not sleep, not when the void behind his eyes was keen on making him relive that night. The night with burning pain and no breath, the night of screams. Thinking about it now made him feel as though all the air had left his body and he could feel the tightness around his throat, a burning, tingling sensation emanating where his scar was located.

As if sensing his distress, Millicent climbed onto his bed and nudged her face against his, making him forget his terrible memories briefly. She had abandoned the twins, which meant that Bren was alright and so was Armitage. He gave her a small pet on her head before he turned to face the wall, the cat climbing over him so she could sleep against his chest. It made him smile weakly, tears prickling his eyes.

How he wished things were different. Yes, he had a roof over his head, food in his stomach and his brothers were alive, which was more than some people had, but this was not the life he wanted, not for himself, nor his brothers. If he could, he would buy passage on a ship for himself and his brothers and travel to the edge of the galaxy and start anew, away from their past, away from the Overseer. But they couldn't leave. While there was no contract binding them to servitude at the palace, the wages they earned, which were significantly lower than what the other servants earned, guaranteed that it would take years, decades even, to buy their way out of New Alderaan. It was akin to slavery but no one noticed and no one cared and Bill had already reluctantly resigned himself to this life. The least he could do now was provide for his brothers and hope he could give them some semblance of a good life.

He had nearly dozed off when he heard the distinct noise of something approaching the house – the one advantage of no windows: it was easy to hear what happening outside. Immediately, Bill was upright in his bed, grabbing a nearby chunk of wood as a weapon. He slowly headed towards the door, his weapon ready. But when he yanked the door open, he was surprised to find there was no one there, only a box. There was no note, no name, nothing that would indicate from who it was from or why they send it.

He brought it in and opened it up. Inside, a new blanket, a new full container of balm, and a new scarf. He gasped at the sight of the items and looked around him, hoping to spot the gracious donor but there was no one in the dark. He pondered for a moment and then picked up the box and brought it inside. By the light of a candle, he inspected the items once more. They were from the palace, that was easily discerned, but the puzzle of why someone would give this to him and his brothers, that was a greater mystery.

He spent some time gawking at the items but eventually put them away in their appropriate spot, going to bed immediately afterwards, this time with a genuine smile on his face and an at ease mind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter this time but an important one nonetheless  
> On a sidenote: thank you all so much for all the comments and kudos you have given. I don't know if I would've continued with this story without all of your lovely words! Thank you so so so much!

Meditation was a vital component of the life of a Jedi. It helped one connect with the Force and helped gain control of one’s feelings. How long a Jedi meditated depended on the situation but some masters were known to meditate for hours, sometimes days, without stop. Yoda wasn’t an exception.

His meditation session would normally be calm and not give him cause for distress but today was different. Three days ago, Leia had informed him that Ben had been having nightmares, nightmares which involved images of Sidious, Plagueis, Vader and Snoke and words of the Dark Side being uttered by those Siths. Out of concern, the three masters had the child swiftly returned to the sanctuary of the Temple and had his training routine changed; with luck it would stop the Dark Side from gaining a greater hold on the child. But the distress Yoda sensed in the child had placed some doubt in the Master over the effectiveness to the changes; in addition to the routine alterations, Ben’s visits to his parents would be limited. It had been several times a year. Now, once a year, perhaps; it would depend on the situation. Regardless, the news had not been well-received by Ben and the child had spent the first day back holed up in his room, crying until his eyes had no tears left to cry.

Yoda knew it was for the best and the will of the Force and while his doubt was short-lived, he sensed doubt in Luke and Obi Wan; he would have to speak to them again to put them at ease.

Delving deeper into his meditation, the child’s distress and the worry of the other Masters faded into the back of his mind. He traveled through the galaxy, seeing vibrant colors and hearing the soft noises of the universe and sensing many but few with connections to the Force. He floated past Ge, sensing the two strongest sensitives on the planet and the system: the young Princess and her master, the Bendu. Traveling further, he reached the Outer Rim and into the Unknown Region. There, something began prodding in his mind, a prodding he recognized as someone purposely interfering with his mediation.

The Old Master deepened his focus and, upon opening his eyes, he was no longer at the Temple. He was in a clearing, the surroundings reminding him of Dagobah. However, his focus wasn’t on the environment for long as he stared at the one who had disturbed his meditation: Snoke.

The Sith was seated cross-legged at the opposite end of the clearing, dressed in his usual black cloak. He appeared to have been meditating but, once the Jedi appeared, he had stopped and gotten to his feet.

“I wondered if you would listen.” He began.

“Hard to meditate, it is when you are disturbed.”

“Hardly. You’re here in the mind after all, not the body. Astral projection requires deep meditation; you wouldn’t be here if you were disturbed by me.” Snoke had a small smirk on his face, knowing he spoke truth. “I believe you are here because you have questions for me. Questions about a child.”

“Yes. Questions I have.” The Old Master said, taking a seat on a stone at one end of the clearing and he waited for Snoke to be seated on a similar stone at the opposite end.

“Let’s keep this brief, shall we?” Snoke said. “I’d rather not waste my time answering empty and useless questions.” Yoda nodded before he asked his most pressing question, one he had had since the moment Snoke uttered the curse.

“Why Benjamin?”

“It is quite simple, if you give it some thought. The rule of two: one Master, one Apprentice.” Snoke paused, “I considered other children: the Genian girl, Obi Wan’s granddaughter; both perfect for corruption but not perfect enough. The Genian child has enough training and command to balance herself; the Mandalorian girl lacks the inner darkness I seek. No, Benjamin was perfect. The grandson of Darth Vader himself is the only one worthy to be my apprentice.”

“Then why the curse? If so keen on an apprentice, you are, then why kill Benjamin?”

“Balance. The Jedi are always seeking balance to the Force and yet the method is counterintuitive to that goal. Destroy the Dark to bring balance but there is no light without dark.”

“No dark without light either. Both must exist.” Yoda said, his tone one of agreement to Snoke’s statement.

“And yet the Force is never balanced. Too many Jedi and few Siths. In killing Ben if he refuses to join me, I’m balancing the scale.”

“Too simple, your motives are.” Yoda grumbled. While the Master Jedi could agree with Snoke on the matter of balancing the Force, it was unlikely that that was Snoke’s only motive. If it were, a simpler solution for Snoke would be to come to the Temple and kill the inhabitants, much like how Darth Vader had done once, and not wait for 18 years for an apprentice when there were others he could take.

“To you, perhaps.” Snoke responded, “But I am not inclined to answer any question in that regard. We were speaking about your precious Padawan and I reiterate: Ben will die on his 18th birthday unless he joins me.”

“But die Benjamin will not. Protect him, the force will.  Seen to it, I have.” Yoda spoke confidently, rising from his stone. There was silence in the clearing, neither moving.

“We shall see.” Snoke said softly, the smallest hint of a smile on his face. He rose from his stone, his being slowly beginning to fade. “Come his 18th birthday, we shall see.” He vanished, the words echoing on and on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come bug me on my tumblr. 
> 
> petalouda85.tumblr.com


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before the chapter start, I should let you guys know that it will probably be a while before another chapter shows up as I’m going back to school on September 5 and I got a busy schedule. I’m still going to try to write but it’ll be at a very slow pace.

Sometimes it was hard to comprehend how quickly the Temple had changed. 16 years ago, the Jedi were near extinction; now, the Temple was more reminiscent of what it had been before. While there certainly weren’t as many members as before, the number of Padawans and Jedi Knights had increased substantially in the last 6 years alone to the point that Obi-Wan and Yoda had trouble at times to teach all of them. They had Luke at least but Rey doubted that he would be able to handle all of the Padawans on his own should age finally catch up with the elder Masters. She tried to not let it worry her much as she had her own worries.

Most of these worries stemmed from Ben. While the Temple and the Jedi were flourishing again, the boy had diminished for reasons she didn’t know. It had started soon after he had returned from Alderaan six years ago. The new training had helped the slightest but the news that he wouldn’t be able to visit his parents had obviously not done him much good. He had gotten more powerful, yes, but he was more volatile now, more unpredictable. That much was evident when they were sparring only a few days ago. They did this often. They could hone their skills with a saber and see who the better fighter was. But during that fight, something had shifted without explanation and Ben’s form had changed from his usual stance to something that was much more reckless and about offense rather than defense. He only snapped out of it once a powerful hack had caused Rey’s saber to be thrown from her hand. Rey decided he had just gotten too much into the adrenaline of the fight.

But the next day, a similar episode happened when they were practicing with other Padawans. This time, his opponent ended up with a seared shoulder. He fled the room and though she chased after him, he told her to leave him alone. She didn’t see him again for the rest of the day, though Luke tried to assure her that her friend was alright.

It took one more discovery the following day for Rey to decide that his changes in fighting wasn’t just adrenaline but something more serious. She had waited until Ben was in conversation with his uncle before she snuck into his room, though it didn’t look as such anymore. Everything had been trashed; the tables were overturned, the shelves had their content tossed on the floor, clothing lay strewed all over and the bed was vacant of all the sheets and pillows. In sneaking in, she had hoped to find a journal or some evidence that pointed towards his inner most feelings. She hadn’t anticipated this.

Her concern higher than ever before, she went looking for Ben, ready to confront him. It wasn’t hard to find him; she knew he would probably be at their special spot: on the roof, where they could watch Padawans practice in the courtyard below. It involved a lot of balance and crawling to get there so it would be unlikely they would be caught by any of the Masters there. As she had expected, Ben was there, his feet dangling over the edge of the roof, looking forlornly at the now empty courtyard.

“I thought I would find you here.”

The boy looked up at his friend and gave a weak smile.

"According to you, I'm not that hard to find." Rey chuckled lightly at the truth of that comment but it quickly faded as she sat down next to her friend, who was once more looking over the courtyard with the same forlorn look as before.

"Are you okay, Ben?" She asked, keeping her gaze on the same spot as his. IN the silence that followed, Rey began to expect that he would claim that he was fine, though a quick poke into his mind would say otherwise. It’s how these things usually went: Ben would deny he was fine, then Rey would say otherwise. It would usually be followed by some more silence before he broke and told her his feelings. This time, there was no meager attempts at trying to convince her he was alright. This time, it was silence. After several minutes of it, Rey sighed and said, "Please, Ben. Talk to me; we could always talk here." To her disappointment, the boy still said nothing, only moving to hug his legs to his chest. She let out another sigh, this one one of disappointment and sadness, and was about to stand and leave when Ben began to talk.

"I've... been having nightmares again." He began slowly, his voice so soft that Rey barely heard him.

"The same ones as before?" She inquired, remembering the conversation they had six years ago about the same topic. She shuffled closer, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No. These are different. Worse." He paused and Rey stopped any questions that crossed her mind; he would tell her at his own pace. "I don't know which one is worse: the one where my parents die or the one where they tell me that I was a mistake and that they never wanted me." He sniffed, wiping oncoming tears away with the heel of his palm. "They're so vivid that I sometimes can't tell if they're dreams or reality. Sometimes..." He paused, the tears now running down his cheeks, "I can't help but wonder if them not wanting me had something to do with the Masters not letting me back to Alderaan."

"That's ridiculous!" Rey exclaimed, the sudden loudness of her voice scaring nearby birds away. "I don't know your parents very well but judging from what I saw on your tenth birthday, your mom and your dad care a lot about you. As does your uncle. I think them not letting you go back has to do with the Jedi Code. I think the Masters are just trying to help you become a better Jedi."

"You think so?"

"Yes! If your parents truly didn't care, they probably would've dumped you here and never have let you go back to Alderaan." She gave him a smile and she was elated to see that he smiled back, though the gesture was slightly forced. "You want to know a little secret?" After the boy nodded, she said, "I miss my dad. I miss Mandalore too. But what makes it bearable is my grandpa. We're lucky that we have family here; we're the only ones that can say that."

"I guess we are lucky that way." Ben said with a small nod of approval, though a quick poke into his mind told Rey that he still felt horrible. The two sat silently for a long while, watching the sun go down and the stars appear in the sky.

"You hungry at all?" Rey asked after her stomach growled.

"A little.”

“Right. Then this is the plan.” She said, jumping up and grabbing his arm, yanking him up to his feet as she explained, “we’re going to steal – correction – _borrow_ some good food from the cafeteria and then we’re going to my room and watch holofilms the entire night.”

“All night?” Ben asked, letting himself be dragged back inside by Rey.

“All night.”

Considering how often they had done it, it was easy to get the food. Due to there being no cameras and the rules around food and time being quite lax, sneaking into the room was as easy as walking in. The only obstacle in sight was the lock on the door where the food was stored but that was one easily overcome by Rey’s lockpicking skills. Arms filled with food, the two teens snuck back to Rey’s room, the two giggling deviously once they had safely arrived.

A film was randomly selected from Rey’s hidden stash but it quickly became background noise. The film was a corny superhero movie with the unnecessary and forced romance subplot that would have the two gagging at the mere sight so throwing random objects across the room was certainly far more entertaining, it quickly turning into a competition of “who-is-the-first-one-able-to-hit-the-other’s-head-with-an-object-using-the-Force.”

Ben won.

It took three more films for the two to nod off, Rey resting her head on Ben’s shoulder and Ben resting his head atop of hers. Once morning came, it was obvious how little sleep they got, with the bags under their eyes and their lack of focus and success while practicing; Yoda had no doubt noticed it but the Master remained silent and kept his focus on his teachings.

Despite the exhaustion, Rey could tell that the night of films had done Ben well. He seemed happier and she noted that his fighting stance was back to what it usually was and there was no unbridled rage present during their daily spar. However, a quick prod in his mind told her he was still upset about the nightmares and his parents. She knew that that was something she couldn’t fix on her own.

That’s how she found herself standing outside the council room after dinner, her hand raised to the button that would announce her presence to the Masters within. She was nervous, which was something she would never admit readily but she was. Most likely at the thought that her small but vital mission would fail. She was scared for Ben. After all, many of the Padawans knew the story of how Vader’s fall to the Dark Side began: nightmares and visions of the future. Some part of her consciousness seemed to believe that Ben was heading in that direction, which was a silly notion; there was no possible way that could happen. Regardless where her fear came from, the silly notion or concern for Ben’s homesickness, she had to help him and helping him meant talking to his Uncle and the other Masters.

Terrifying as it was to speak to them, she had to try, for Ben’s sake.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed the button and, with her head held high, she walked into the room.

* * *

Being summoned by the Masters was always a small bit terrifying. Never mind that one was his uncle and the other the grandfather of his best friend, those three Jedi could change his training on a whim, intensifying it or making it less. Keeping secrets was difficult around them too and Ben had secrets, like any boy his age would. But his secrets were very different from the average teen. They were secrets about nightmares and what he saw in them. Terrifying people draped in black and carrying red lightsabers, whispering tempting words about the Dark Side.

At times, the nightmares were like visions of the past and the future. These visions always included people he was close to. He had only told Rey of the ones he had seen of his parents but they hadn’t been the only ones he had seen. Some visions had been of Rey, the most common one being of her standing in front of a building on Mandalore, the building vanishing into a ball of fire, it absorbing his friend before she could scream or even gasp. He’d wake up crying every time these visions, nightmares (he wasn’t sure what they were any more at this point) came. They were so vivid at times it almost seemed as though he had already experienced them in reality.

As he walked to the council room, he thought that it was likely the Masters had discovered his nightmares. The silence that followed his entrance was unnerving and having the three Masters watching him as he stood in the center of the room wasn’t helping either. It only made Ben feel as though he had gotten into trouble for something he hadn’t done.

“Ben, do you know why you’re here?” His uncle finally said. The teen shook his head. “It had been brought to our attention that you’ve been having nightmares lately. Is that true?”

Ben saw no point in lying so he replied,

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Luke inquired, his tone a mix of a concerned adult and worried Master.

“I don’t know. I suppose because it’s just nightmares?”

“But these nightmares scare you.” Obi-Wan stated, “I can feel your fear for them.”

“They do… a little.”

“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda responded. “Nightmares, Vader had before his fall.”

“Is that why I’m here? Because you think I’m falling to the dark side because of some nightmares?” The three masters tried to interject but Ben continued, “I’m not Darth Vader. I don’t have some prophecy, curse, whatever it was flying over my head. I don’t have a Sith Lord breathing down my neck. And real as the nightmares seem, I don’t believe they’re some attempt by some shadow to sway me away from the Jedi. They just scared me a little, like nightmares are supposed to do, but that fear is not some prelude to a descent to the dark side.” The room fell instantly silent after Ben finished his small speech, the three masters exchanging glances.

“If you say so.” Obi-Wan said, though something told Ben that the Master wasn’t convinced by his words. “Regardless, Yoda, Luke and I have been talking and we have decided that you should go back to Alderaan for a little while.”

“What? You’re serious?” Ben stumbled out, not quite able to process what he was hearing. “I can go home?” When all three men nodded, Ben gasped and felt tears prickling his eyes. He couldn’t believe it. They were letting him go home; it almost didn’t seem real and he had dig his nails into his palm to make certain it was reality. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank us.” Obi-Wan said with a smile. “Thank Rey; she talked to us about it yesterday.”

The brightest smile on his face, Ben dashed out of the room and went to search for his friend. He ran through most of the temple, to the cafeteria, to her room, to the library and eventually to the courtyard, where she was practicing her saber skills. He ran to her and embrace her tightly, her surprise, the momentum and his larger size sending the two of them to the grass.

“Ben.” She laughed, pushing him off of her. “What are you doing?”

“Thanking you.” He replied, his beaming smile never wavering.

“For what?”

“For talking to the Masters. They’re letting me go home for a while!”

“Oh that!” Rey responded, sitting up while Ben plunked down next to her. “Well, you’re welcome.”                                                                                                                                                            

Ben leaned towards her again and drew her back into another embrace, this time letting the gesture last longer in hope that it would let her know how thankful he was. He hadn’t been this happy in such a long time. The only other times that could even remotely elicit a similar feeling was spending time with his parents or wreaking havoc with Rey. He would try to let her know that he was grateful beyond words but he doubted that he would ever be able to thank her fully for what she had done.

* * *

A scowl on his face, Snoke watched carefully as Ben embraced the Jedi girl, the smile on the boy’s face making the Sith gain thoughts that the girl might end up undoing everything. When he heard footsteps, he waved the orb away ad looking upon the figure approaching him: a Mandalorian dressed in clothing bearing the insignia of the Death Watch.

“What news?” Snoke asked.

“The bombs are made and are slowly being put in position. They’ll be ready before the week’s end.”

“Good. I must be rid of that girl.”

“She will be there, The Mandalorian ensured, “as will the rest of her family. When my men are done, the Kenobis will cease to exist in the galaxy and Mandalore will be ripe for taking.”

“Good.” Snoke hummed. “Ensure you do not fail.”

The Mandalorian left soon after, leaving Snoke to ponder in the darkness for a time. The pondering didn’t last long however as another figure appeared in his vision. This one was Genian.

“How are the plans for Ge proceeding?” Snoke asked.

“It’s easy enough to convince the Kraal to assassinate the Queen.” The Genian said softly. “It’ll be harder to smuggle them onto the planet; they have gotten more thorough in ship searching.”

“Find a way. I want that girl dead.”

“Don’t fret, Snoke. I’ll find a way; I want her dead as much as you do.”

“The girl is only the beginning; you must get rid of the rest of the family if you’re to claim what you want and for me to get what I want from that measly planet.”

“You worry too much.” The Genian chuckled. “I have already killed three members of her family; getting rid of the others shouldn’t be a problem. You may doubt my skills but I do not.”

“Then go.” Snoke said after a minute of silence. “Finish your preparations. We will speak more once the deed is done. Do not fail; it’ll put everything in jeopardy.” The Genian man only smirked before his being vanished into thin air, leaving the Sith alone with his thoughts.

Everything was going according to plan.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you missed it, I'm going back to school on the 5th so updates will be coming slower.
> 
> Come bug me on Tumblr: [petalouda85.tumblr.com](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com)
> 
> Also, I made a moodboard for this fic. If you're interested, the link is here: [petalouda85.tumblr.com/post/163567541540/then-we-need-to-find-this-loved-one-master-yoda](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com/post/163567541540/then-we-need-to-find-this-loved-one-master-yoda)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How I found the time to finish this, I have no idea. School is busy and it’s draining a lot out of me but I’m doing okay for the most part. Fanfiction is keeping me relatively sane.  
> I hope you guys like it and sorry for keeping you waiting.

He had been digging his fingers into his palms for the majority of the trip. Even as Alderaan came into his vision, he didn’t stop, still not believing that this was truly happening. He was going home.

Leaving the Temple was odd and, to a certain degree, difficult. He had been there every day for the past six years. Though it had felt like a prison at times, he still had an attachment to it, odd as that seemed. He figured it was because he had left Rey behind there. They hadn’t been apart for a single day since the moment they had arrived. They had done everything together. Training, meditating, studying. Everything. She was his best friend.

He felt strange when the word friend crossed his mind but he didn’t dwell on it as they entered the atmosphere and headed for the surface of Alderaan. Looking out a porthole, he could see the capital. He spotted a few new buildings here and there but nothing had really changed to him. The palace was still where it had always been, the parliament building was as tall and as magnificent as ever and the memorial to Old Alderaan and the countless lives lost in its destruction still shone in the sun.

When his gaze fell back onto the palace, he began feeling nervous. Nervous because he had no idea if his family would be there to greet him. He hadn’t spoken to either of his parents in six years. He knew his mother traveled back and forth between Alderaan and Hosian Prime and his father was normally off to a desolate spot of the galaxy doing whatever it was he did but it was all secondhand information he had gotten from his uncle or from random news stories. He had no idea if either of them had gotten word that he was coming home.

He stepped away from the porthole and went to the bridge where the pilot and his co-pilot were slowly descending towards the landing pad.

“You nervous?” The pilot, who had introduced himself as Poe, asked. He chuckled when Ben nodded. “Well, don’t be.” He nodded towards the landing pad before Ben could ask why, though any words that would’ve been said were lost when Ben saw who was waiting on the pad.

The landing process was now much too slow as the teen anxiously waited for the door to open. He was nearly bouncing from the anticipation.

Finally, after an eternity, the door opened to the outside world. The durasteel had barely touched the ground when Ben jumped out and ran into the waiting arms of his mother. The embrace was tight, Ben certain he heard a sniff from her but he didn’t bother pointing it out. He doubted she would even care if anyone same her weep tears of joy at this moment.

They eventually did stop the embrace, Leia reaching up to cup his face, wiping away tears he hadn’t realized he had shed.

“Look at you.” She whispered, the tears in her eyes and her beaming smile more than enough to convey all her happiness. “You’re so much taller.” He was. When he left six years ago, he didn’t even reach her shoulder. Now, he was tall enough that he had to bend down to hug her properly.

“And you haven’t changed a bit.” Ben responded with a smile just as bright as hers.

“I missed you so much.” Leia whispered when they embraced once more.

“I missed you too, mama. Is dad here?”

“No but he’s on his way. He was so excited to hear you were coming home.” Leia explained, releasing the embrace to lead him away from the launch pad; there was so much to talk about and that wasn’t the place to do it. They headed towards the garden, arm-in-arm.

“It’ll be good to see him.” Ben responded with a smile. “Now, what has happened here? Tell me everything.”

“Everything?” Leia laughed. “Still as curious as ever.” She fell silent for a moment, thinking back on six years’ worth of memory to find the most significant ones. “It hasn’t been that different since you left. The city has grown and there have been some changes in staff here but nothing that would really interest you.”

“Changes in staff? Who’s gone?” Ben inquired, the images of the three red haired brothers being abused by the Overseer in the garden appearing in his mind for no reason he could explain.

“An Overseer in the garden.” Leia answered, Ben feeling an odd sense of relief in response. “A few years ago it was brought to my attention that he was abusing some boys that worked in the garden so I had him replaced with someone more level-headed.”

“And were they?”

“They were but as a precaution, I had the boys moved to work in the palace itself. They alternate between helping in the kitchen and helping with cleaning.”

Ben nodded but decided against asking more about the boys; he could always try to find them later.

“What about the galaxy? There’s always something happening there.”

“True.” Leia sighed. She went on to briefly explain general issues and a more pressing one in the form of a resurgent of an Imperialistic movement in the Unknown Regions. “But instead of focusing on the remaining threat of the Empire, the Senate is intent on harassing Ge.”

"Ge?" Ben was shocked to hear that news. He didn't know much about Ge or politics in general but he knew that Ge was a peaceful planet that preferred to be left alone. "I thought there was an agreement the Senate would stop demanding things from them."

"Under the last king. But now that Paro is Queen, the Senate is intent on trying again. Paro is more open to outsiders than her father was but several Senators are taking it too far in demands. Those idiots should know better than to harass a teenager." She took a breath, noting Ben's concerned face. "The Chancellor and I have been trying to diffuse the tension between the Senate and Ge but we haven't had much success so far."

"Remind me to never pursue politics."

"If you're ever going to rule Alderaan, you'll have to deal with some of that stuff eventually. But enough about politics. I have some much needed bonding time with my son to attend to. Tell me about the Temple." She said, smiling up at him.

Ben gladly told her all about the Temple, giving every detail in regards to the building itself and his training. They talked extensively about Luke and Rey, the teen noting his mother sudden increased interest in his friend. He paid it no mind though and made sure to answer her questions as detailed as possible, it all steering away from Rey eventually.

He wasn't sure how long it was but after a time, their conversation was abruptly stopped when a servant came to inform Leia that the Chancellor wanted to talk to her. With promises to return as soon as possible, Leia left, leaving Ben alone in the garden. He remained seated in his current spot for a few minutes before he got up and began to wander.

Of all the things in the palace, the garden had been the place he had missed the most. It had been his refuge and his playground when he was younger. But it was also a place tainted by the last memory of it, which could still send a chill down his spine. The voice had been so cold but so tempting. It had whispered confirmation of his worst fears and increased the want of his deepest desires. He still didn't know who hat voice belonged to but he was grateful he hadn't heard it since that day.

A cat meowed near him. As if he were reliving the past, he turned and saw a tabby cat, this one an older version of the kitten he saw 6 years ago. The animal looked up at him for a moment but then trotted to him, rubbing her head against his legs.

"Hi, little lady." He cooed, leaning down to stroke her head. "You've gotten bigger." The cat purred against his hand, happy with the sweet words he was whispering. "There was a boy with you last time. Armitage, I think his name was. Is he around here somewhere?" The cat meowed as if in response and soon turned, her direction towards the palace. Curious, the teen followed the cat, going towards lower levels of the palace he had never explored before. A left, a right, down some stairs and then down a long hallway.

Eventually, he was led to a door, it open only slightest but enough for light to peek through. Carefully, Ben opened the door.

It was an average room, artificial light giving him a clearer view of what was within. Three beds, a table with two short benches, a large storage closet and a small stove. It looked comfortable and livable enough, not at all what the hut in the garden had been, if he remembered it correctly. Those memories weren't pondered about long as the cat had jumped up onto the table and went to the one seated on one of the benches, working on what seemed to be a sewing project.

"Yet again, my cat causes a meeting between us." The teenager said, only glancing over at Ben and focusing on his needlework.

"Destiny cat." Ben joked, uncertain what he should say. To his relief, Armitage laughed.

"I heard you were coming back from the Temple." The redhead said after a moment of awkward silence had passed, "How long has it been? Six years?"

"Six." Ben confirmed, sitting down on the vacant bench. Another silence followed, it more awkward than before. Conversation didn’t come easily; they were friends in a sense but at the same time, strangers. Armitage continued to work on his project, only glancing up at Ben once or twice.

"I may as well say something before this becomes any more awkward than it is." He said suddenly, dropping his needlework when Millicent adamantly began to prevent him from working on it.

"Say what?" Ben responded, reaching over the table to scratch the cat behind her ear, occasionally stealing a glance at Armitage.

"I'm not sure. It's not easy to have conversations with someone you barely know; I remember that our first and last conversation ended with me saying something along the lines of never being able to talk to you again. And yet, here we are: a conversation, albeit a slightly awkward one."

"Six years ago, you probably would've told me to go away."

"True but six years ago, I cared about getting into trouble."

"And now?"

"Now I don't care. Being punished for speaking to someone of a higher rank would be something the Empire would do."

“You say that as if you’ve experienced it.”

“Saw it and experienced it.” Armitage said slowly, his hand unconsciously grasping the fabric of his left sleeve.

“How are your brothers?” Ben asked.

“They’re fine.” Armitage answered, turning his attention back to his sewing project. “My younger brother is definitely glad to be away from that stupid Overseer.” He looked up. “By the way, thank you for the items you gave; they were badly needed.”

“How… How did you know that was me?” Ben stuttered out.

“I have my ways. You’re not that difficult to figure out, Ben Solo.”

“Really?” Ben smirked, noting a small smile present on Armitage’s face.

“Really. Example: you’ve been unable to keep your eyes off of me since you’ve come in ergo, you think that I’m the cutest damn thing you’ve ever seen.” He immediately began laughing as Ben’s face turned a bright red.

“Well, you’re not… I mean… I-“Ben stumbled. He had not anticipated a response like that. He had anticipated something along the lines of personality or future goals, not thoughts of someone being cute. He was completely unaccustomed to anything in regards to romance so he was unable to find a coherent response that didn’t make him sound like an absolute idiot. “You’re definitely not bad looking.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Any observations that aren’t as embarrassing?”

“You are uncertain about what you want in your future.” Armitage posited.

“Good guess but an easy one considering my family.”

“Senator, Jedi, King. All are much more promising than anything in my future.”

“Well, now you’re making me sound more glamorous than I actually am.” The two boys glanced at each other before bursting out in laughter at Ben’s comment. Just like that, their conversation continued, Ben learning new things about Armitage when he attempted his game on himself. Granted, he didn’t get as many correct as Armitage had on him but the redhead was at least generous enough to provide Ben with more correct answers. However, any guesses that alluded towards Armitage’s past were only answered with a yes or no; it obviously wasn’t something Armitage wanted to talk about.  

Eventually, the time crept closer to dinner and Ben had to leave, both to join his mother and to let Armitage get back to work. As he left the room and made his way back to more familiar hallways, Ben felt happy and an odd sense of calm he hadn’t felt in a long time.

As he still had some time before dinner was ready, he went back to his old room. It was as if he had never left; even old toys were still placed in the storage chest at the foot of his massive bed. He rummaged through it before he found one of his favorite toys: a miniature Millennium Falcon. He had spent hours with that toy, holding it high up and making engine noises while his father had chased after him with a TIE fighter, switching between engine noises and blaster noises; Ben smiled at the memory.

Toy in hand, he crashed down on his bed, suddenly feeling exhausted. He shut his eyes, knowing there would be no harm in a small nap.

When he opened his eyes, he didn’t know where he was. He had never been here before: a long hallway, triangular in shape with a light flickering at the other end. Curious, he took a step towards it when he heard a voice call his name.

“Ben?” It was Rey’s voice.

“Rey?” Ben called out in response, running towards where he thought the sound had come from. Suddenly, there was an explosion behind him, making him stumble. When he looked up, he was somewhere else, his back towards a massive building.

“Ben!” She was running towards him, away from the building, dragging Obi-Wan with her, when the building exploded into a ball of fire, it throwing Ben back.

“Rey!” Ben screamed but she was gone, his environment now a black room. He thought he was alone at first but he soon discovered three other people where in there with him: Armitage and his brothers, all of them much younger. A door opened and several, heavily tattooed men came in. Bill immediately jumped up and stood in front of his brothers to protect them. It was a feeble attempt as the men grabbed him as though he was as light as a feather. Before they left, they grabbed Bren and Armitage as well. The three were lead to another room where a woman was waiting, her face scarred and arms covered in tattoos. She said something that Ben couldn’t hear but as Bill began to resist and scream, it was obvious it couldn’t be good. But his screams were quickly cut off when the woman lifted a blaster and shot him point blank on his throat. How he was still alive and breathing by the time he hit the floor was a mystery but Ben’s attention was diverted when the woman pointed towards Bren. Armitage tried to protect his brother but he was powerless against the adults.

This time, Ben could hear the woman’s words.

“Imperialist scum.” She sneered as Bren was put in front of her. She grabbed his head tightly and Bren began to scream in agony while Armitage begged incoherent words.

Tears of fear in his eyes, Ben turned away from the grisly scene when he saw spurts of blood falling on the floor where Bren stood. He tried to breathe evenly as the noise faded into the background and, once he dared to look, Armitage and his brothers were gone.

Once more, he was in a dark room but this one looked like a meeting room of some sort, a long walkway in the middle leading towards a podium. At the podium stood someone, their back turned to him.

“I’ve been expecting you.” A voice boomed through the room.

“Who are you?” Ben asked, fighting to keep his voice from shaking; he knew that voice.

“I’m the one who can help you.” The voice said, the figure on the podium turning to show his familiar disfigured face.

“I don’t need your help.”

“That’s what you think but you do. I’ve seen what you can do.” The creature whispered, walking from the podium towards the teen. “I’ve seen your power. Raw, untamed. You could be so much more than a mere Jedi. The Chosen One, like your grandfather."

"My grandfather?" The creature nodded.

"He was the greatest Force Wielder the galaxy had seen in millennia. But his potential only came to fruition when he left the Jedi Order that was restricting him." He was now standing by the boy, slowly grabbing his shoulder with thin, bony hands. "Why can't you see, Ben?" He whispered into Ben's ear. "Your Masters are hindering you, not letting you reach your true potential. They fear you and are unwilling to teach you."

"They're not scared of me." Ben said with a tone of surety, almost slapping the creature's hands off of him. "They can't be." The creature smiled at him and opened his palm. In it appeared an orb, it bearing the image of Ben from a recent meditation session with his uncle. The image began to move, showing the pavement near him crack under the force of his concentration. But what Ben focused on was the face of his uncle in the image. To his horror, the man's face flashed with fear when the pavement split.

"Even your precious friend fears you." The image changed, morphing to an image of Rey sparring with him.

"Rey?" Ben whispered as the image began to move, starting the spar. Ben could see himself lose control, it leading to him disarming Rey. When the lightsaber fell from her hand and the threat of being hurt drew nigh, Rey's expression became one of terror. "No..."

"I don't fear you, Ben." The creature cooed, the orb disappearing as he tucked a stray lock of hair behind the teen's ear. "I can see how special you are. Join me and I can complete your training. Only I can help you become who you were truly meant to be." He extended a wrinkled hand towards the teen expectantly.

"No." Ben said softly, his confident tone gone.

"No?"

"I-I don't believe you."

"So you want more proof?" The creature lifted his hand and Ben felt his throat slowly closing in on itself. "Six years you languished in that Temple. Not a single word from your mother or your father. You were alone. They could've visited you. Both of them. Your mother: a queen and a senator, travelling frequently between your home world and the dredges of the Republic. If she truly loved you, cared for you, she would've made some small attempt to see you. But she did nothing." The grip on Ben's throat became tighter. "Your father. A low thief and smuggler. He had enough time to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other and yet he couldn't even spare a moment for you. They don't care for you. You were a mistake."

"No." Ben thought, tears flowing from his eyes while his blood boiled with anger. He didn't want to believe this creature but he spoke truth; his parents never had tried to come visit him. Never.

"Yes. I can feel your anger. Embrace it, let it fuel your power. Show me. Show me your power!"

"NO!" Ben screamed, the grip on his throat disappearing as his power blew the creature away. The teen woke with a gasp, several items that had been floating around him crashing to the floor. He felt around his throat as he took ragged breaths but thankfully, he felt no pressure of any sort, natural or Force related. He then began to cry, hugging his knees to his chest, the fear from the nightmare still clawing at him.

This nightmare had been the worst one yet.

\----

“Ben, are you okay? You’re really quiet.” Ben snapped out of his trance when his father asked the question. Han had popped up shortly before dinner had started but Ben had barely said anything to him and had barely touched his food while his parents had small talk about Han’s most recent escapade to another system. The words of the creature about his parents were still fresh in his mind and the more he had thought about them, the more he realized how true they were.

“Why didn’t you guys ever come visit me?” It became deadly silent in an instant. “Did you even try?” Too angry at this point, Ben stood up and left the room before either of his parents could stop him, let alone formulate a response. The teen went straight to his room, slamming the door behind him and crashed on the bed. He wanted to scream, smash something against the wall, lash out with his lightsaber, do something to deal with this anger.

“ _Yes, Ben. Feel your anger_.”

“Go away.” He mumbled, tears threatening to spill once more. “GO AWAY!”

“Ben!” He heard his father call in the distance but none of it registered until he felt a hand on his shoulder. The touch made Ben flinch.

“Ben, what’s wrong?”

“ _They don’t care_.”

“Shut up.” Ben whispered, tears now flowing free from his eyes.

“Ben, what is going on?” Leia asked, having seated herself next to Han, carrying the same concerned expression.

“I… don’t know.” Ben forced out, the words soft and rough. “I don’t know.”

“If this is about us not visiting,” Han began, his voice vacant of his usual snark, “we wanted to. We really did but we were told not to do it. I still tried but they stopped me from landing.”

“What?” When both adults nodded, Ben sobbed. Whether it was from relief or anger or both, he didn’t know. He was quickly enveloped in his parent’s embrace, crying into Han’s shoulder.

“It’s okay.” Leia cooed, gently rubbing his back and placing a kiss on her son’s temple, her heart breaking to see him in such distress. “It’s okay.” For an unknown period of time, the three of them just sat there, holding each other tightly with the youngest hoping that his parents would never let go or leave him.

“Ben?”

“Hm?”

“I have a proposal for you.” The embrace was broken so Ben could face his mother.

“What is it?”

“I have to go back to Hosian Prime soon. Why don’t you come with me?”

“But my training…” Ben wanted to go, more than anything, but his rational side knew he couldn’t just abandon his training just like that.

“We’ll take care of it.” Han assured.

That was more than enough for Ben to eagerly agree to Leia’s offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come bug me on Tumblr: [petalouda85.tumblr.com](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com)
> 
> Here's a link to a moodboard I made: [petalouda85.tumblr.com/post/163567541540/then-we-need-to-find-this-loved-one-master-yoda](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com/post/163567541540/then-we-need-to-find-this-loved-one-master-yoda)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for a quick update!! I did not anticipate to update this quickly but I had a writing spurt and some intense procrastinating on my homework so here we are. Not sure if I’ll update during November as I’m participating in NaNoWriMo so my writing attention will be on my project and not my fanfictions.

Hosian Prime was so much different than anything he could've imagined. He had heard stories from his mother over the last few days and he had seen the occasional picture of it but seeing it in person for the first time was an experience on its own, the stories and pictures unable to compare to actually being at the center of the Republic.

The desire to see everything was strong and the moment he landed, he wanted to explore the city. However, he decided to suppress that urge, knowing it would be so much better if his mother joined him and she wasn't able to join him right away. Before they had even landed, Leia had received a message that a meeting was to convene soon so they only had time to go to Leia's apartment, drop off their belongings and head towards the Senate Hall.

By the time they arrived, the meeting had already commenced but Leia's advisor informed her that she hadn't missed anything significant. Mother and son quietly took a seat, Leia listening to what was being said and Ben looking around the room.

It was filled to the brim with representatives from countless Republic planets, the room itself reminding him of the place used by the Senate of the Old Republic; it wasn’t an exact replica but from what he could remember of the pictures he had seen, the room was quite similar to it. After his quick glance around the room was finished, he tried to pay attention to what was being said, though he didn't understand most of it. The Senators seemed to talk about issues like trade, taxation and protection and on occasion something more drastic would be talked about but it all seemed minor to the teenager.

After about an hour, there was a brief break but once that was done, the meeting commenced once more, one Senator almost immediately asking for a chance to speak.

“Senator Aleksandrov, you may speak.” A dais above Ben and Leia moved and went to the center so all could see the Senator as he began to speak, his voice heavy with an accent Ben didn’t recognize.

“I am here to do to implore the help of the Senate. As you’re no doubt aware, the past year on Kievan Rus has been difficult, with political unrest widespread. I’m afraid the unrest has escalated and myself and thousands of others have found ourselves in danger of our lives. Not three days ago, the Czar and his family have been removed from power and have been replaced by totalitarian government, who have already begun in systematic destruction of their political rivals and any who they deem unworthy of their new government. Children are starving, many more being senselessly murdered or imprisoned for unproven crimes.” As he listed the atrocities, the other Senators in the room responded with gasps or shouts of anger. “Just an hour ago, I received word the Czar and his family have been executed on charges of treason.” That caused an uproar among the other senators and a shout of order was needed to silence them.

“What would you like the Senate to do?” The Chancellor asked the Senator.

“Send armed forces to Kievan Rus, get rid of the totalitarian government, and establish democracy.”

“Why should we send an army to aid a small planet like Kievan Rus?” Asked another Senator, their platform moving to be nearer to the Rus senator. “In regards to wealth and numbers, your planet is insignificant and not worth our time. Why should I or any other senator here bother to send troops to a planet ready to tear itself apart?”

“You forget that Kievan Rus produces some of the fiercest fighters in the galaxy and that we’re are in strategically placed location which would prove beneficial to whoever controlled it. Should the current government or the Imperialist movement gain control of it, any wars of in future could not prove in our favor.” 

“The Imperialist movement was destroyed on Jakku.” Another Senator interceded. “There are no more emperors, no more empires, no more stormtroopers or any other Imperial garbage. Tarkin is dead, Palpatine is dead, Vader is dead; there is no one left to lead any of the squabbles that remained.”

“Only a fool like yourself would believe such an absurd idea.” Leia objected, her dais moving forward as well to join the Senator in the middle, Ben feeling rather uncomfortable with all the eyes on him and his mother. “The Imperialist movement is real and a real threat to everything we’ve built. I say we help Kievan Rus, if it means that the Empire won’t gain a foothold on another planet.” There were shouts of agreement.

“Order!” Someone shouted, the room slowly falling silent.

“Senator Organa, Senator Tashow, your stances have been noted and will be reviewed. Senator Aleksandrov, I regret to say that my own forces are spread thin at this moment and I cannot offer you full assistance. However, if you would speak to me after this meeting, I’m certain will be able to reach an agreement.” With that statement, the three Senators returned to their respective spot, watching silently as the Chancellor moved on to the next issues.

“Do meetings always last this long?” Ben whispered to his mother.

“Sometimes. It depends on what needs to be discussed. If we reach the topic of the Empire remnants again, we will be sitting here for a while longer.”

“Because no one here can agree on what to do about it?”

“Partly that but also because destroying a political faction based solely on the difference of opinion and policy goes against the standards of a democracy. Many here also are unwilling to admit that the remnants are still a threat; they want to believe the terrors of the empire are finished. And those that do believe the threat are unwilling to act without Ge on their side. Just you watch, before this meeting is done, Ge will be brought up.”

Leia was right. The meeting was nearing its closing when a senator inquired about a message the Chancellor had sent recently.

“I have received a response to my message but it is no different than others: Ge will not join the Senate or open any trading negotiations.” Once more, the room burst into an uproar.

“This is all the fault of her Grand Vizier. That man is controlling the Queen!” Someone shouted.

“I say we attack Ge! They have insulted us and have been doing nothing but aggravate us. No more talking, no more negotiating. I say we end this now!”

“Order! Order!”

“Are you suggesting we go to war with a planet that is protected by a shield with a gate stronger than the one on Scariff with a military that has weapons and ships made from the very material you vie for?” Leia interjected when the room had calmed down. Her statement made even the remaining murmurs go silent. “We don’t need war with the Genians and any threat of military movement will make them even more untrusting of the Senate. The situation is already precarious; let’s not make it any worse. Whatever was said in the Chancellor’s message, I doubt they were the words of the Queen herself. We all know that all the messages send in the past were signed by the Vizier and not by the Queen.” Murmurs suggested agreement. “Our best option is to send someone onto the planet itself and speak directly to the Queen. If such a meeting can be arranged, I think she can be reasoned with.”

“Senator Organa speaks true.” Another Senator added. “We need to find someone who can talk to the Queen. They will be difficult to find, as they need to meet certain criteria, but I believe they can be found.”

“Senators, take a seat please.” The Chancellor said. Once all were back in their place, “I will search for a messenger to send to Ge. If there is nothing else to discuss, this meeting is adjourned.” There was a short moment of silence before the low rumble of conversation began and the senators began pouring out of the room. Ben rose to his feet but Leia was slower to follow.

“Your first senate meeting. What did you think?”

“That was insane. Is it always like that?” Ben asked as they headed out into the hallway.

“Democracies are always hectic. It’s a lot of shouting and a lot of debating and often it takes ages for an agreement to be reached.”

“What do you think will happen with Ge?” Ben inquired. Hearing the issues that the Senate faced with the planet, Ben was concerned, particularly for his friend.

“I don’t know. The Chancellor is not so stupid that she would declare war on them but I doubt that a messenger will be allowed to enter the planet if their purpose was known. At this rate, nothing will come of this. And even if a messenger is sent, I still believe nothing will come of it.”

“Because the Senate wants the clypsoate?” Ben had no idea what it was but he had heard it was extremely valuable and that the Senate wanting it was the source of the ongoing conflict.

“Maybe you should become a Senator.” Leia chuckled, “But yes. The Senate wants the clypsoate and Ge is unwilling to trade it.”

“What’s so special about that stuff anyway?” Before Leia could answer, they were interrupted by a guard.

“Senator Aleksandrov wants to talk to you.” They stated, giving an apologetic look for interrupting their conversation. “He said it was urgent.”

“I’ll be there right away. I’ll see you back at the apartment.” After a nod and a quick hug, mother and son parted ways. Ben watched his mother leave before he walked in the opposite direction, intent on exploring the building and look for views of the city. It was his first time in the heart of the Republic so he wanted to see the most of it before he returned to the Temple. He had no knowledge of when that would be but he figured it would be soon; none of his Masters approved of putting off training for too long.

Worming his way through the throng of senators, he eventually found himself on a balcony which looked over the city. It was a splendid sight and he felt nearly breathless from how different it was. Vehicles zoomed past him and everywhere he looked there were people, accompanied by the murmur of conversation and trade.

“Benjamin Solo. Seems like yesterday you were just a baby.” He turned around and found him looking at the Chancellor, the woman smiling at him.

“Chancellor.” Ben responded politely.

“Would you care to walk with me?” The teen was surprised with the question. After all, why would she want to be around him; he wasn’t exactly a major political figure, not like his mother was.

“Sure.”

Going back inside, the two began a slow stroll down the hall, the Chancellor acknowledging other senators as they passed them. Once in a relatively empty hallway, she began to speak.

“I saw you were present during the Senate meeting. How did you find it?”

“It’s very different from the Temple. It was… a lot louder.”

“It can be at times.” The woman chuckled. “One wonders how we get anything done with all that shouting going on.” There was a pause. “Would you ever consider becoming a Senator? I have no doubt that, with the right training, you would be as great a Senator as your mother.”

“I don’t know.” Ben answered. “I still haven’t finished my Jedi training and I’m also expected to rule Alderaan someday. Besides, I don’t care much for politics anyway.”

“I didn’t mean to make you feel as though you had to say yes, Benjamin.” She assured. “I just wanted to tell that I think you would make a good Senator.” There was another pause, the silence interrupted when she cleared her throat, “I may as well get to the point of all this: I wanted to ask you something.”

“What?”

“As you no doubt heard in the meeting, we’ve been having issues gaining direct contact with the Queen of Ge. It would seem that all my messages have been intercepted by her Grand Vizier. I was wondering if you would be willing to go to Ge and deliver a message to the Queen on my behalf.”

“What?” Ben stumbled out, stopping his stroll as he processed what he was being asked. “Why me?”

“You’re royalty, the son of two famous war heroes, the nephew of a Jedi Master but, most importantly, you’re an acquaintance of the Queen. They wouldn’t turn you away from the planet without good reason and you’re perhaps the only outsider that would even be able to get close to her right now. Furthermore, you’re not a member of the Senate so you would be more trustworthy in their eyes than I would. I’m not asking you to participate in a political meeting; all I ask is that you give her a message.” Before Ben had even an opportunity to formulate a sound past his bout of shock, another guard came near, speaking to the Chancellor.

“Chancellor, forgive the intrusion but Senator Tashow wishes to speak with you.”

“Tell them I’ll be there shortly.” As the guards left, she turned her attention back to the teen. “It seems I have to cut our conversation short. Think about what I asked, Benjamin. If you’re willing to go, please come see me.” With that, she left, leaving Ben bewildered with his thoughts.

\----

“Ben, are you okay? You’re very quiet.” Leia asked when they were about halfway through eating their dinner.

“I had a conversation with the Chancellor this afternoon.” He explained, “She wants me to go to Ge.”

“To be her personal messenger boy no doubt.” Leia said, her tone sharp.

“In a sense.”

“Are you going to do it?”

“I don’t know. I would like to go, if only to see Paro, but being a messenger boy for the Senate and going to a planet where they don’t get along with them, I feel like I’m placing my head on a chopping block.”

Leia was silent for a moment, her expression telling him she was contemplating something. 

"I can't lie to you, Ben; if you went, that might be the case." She took a sip of her drink before continuing. "Ge does not have a clean history when it comes to the treatment of their enemies. Their relationship with the Kraal is notoriously violent and bloody and many stories circulate of what was done to Imperial officers that were unfortunate enough to get caught; each one gets more disgusting. Claims have been made both by the previous Vizier and the current one that the situation has improved and that hostile measures like that would not be made against Senators or anyone neutral but as we're unable to send any ambassadors to the surface to inspect, I question how truthful those statements are." She dropped her utensils and reached forward, taking his hand in hers. "I'm not comfortable with the idea of you going, Ben. Ge is played off as a paradise of sorts but their politics are ruthless and while you're not as dangerous to them as I am, you'd still be considered a threat to their isolation and much of what they stand for." She took a deep breath. "However, the last time I forced you to go somewhere I wanted you to go, it didn't end so well for you. I'll let you decide if you want to go or not. All I ask is that you think carefully about it and the risks. Can you do that? For me?" The teen quickly nodded in response, which left Leia with a smile on her face. 

Later that night, Ben lay in his bed, wide awake and staring at the ceiling. It was well past midnight but the boy couldn't find sleep. The proposal of the Chancellor had been swimming without stop since dinner time and he was trying to consider the best way to move forward with it. 

The first option was to go to Ge, deliver the message under the guise of visiting the Queen and leave as soon as it was delivered. Quick and probably the simplest method. However, such an endeavor would look suspicious. No one sane would believe the guise of visiting if he was gone within a few hours. Worst case scenario if he were caught: he'd be temporarily blocked from leaving the planet. Not a horrible scenario but it would probably be the end of negotiations between the Senate and Ge. 

Second option: same as the first but extend the visit for a few more days. That would lessen suspicion on him, given that he gives the message at the end of his visit and not the beginning. The earlier he'd give it, the more likely he'd be caught. 

He was then struck with a thought: what would Paro think of him being a personal messenger boy for the Senate. He had talked her several times over the span of the last six years but they had spoken very little of politics so he didn't fully know what her thoughts were of the Senate or if any of those sentiments he knew had changed. Should he give the message, she could either keep it quiet and look once he was gone or order him to leave and calling him the Senate's puppet or something. He hoped it would be the former. 

The third and fourth option would perhaps be the safest for him: don't go to Ge at all or go but don't give the message. He knew the third option was the one his mother wanted him to choose and the fourth one was the one he liked best. Thinking about his mother and her thoughts, his stomach sank: he’d be leaving her for who knew how long after only a few days with her. He didn’t want to leave her so soon but Paro he wanted to see too.

He thought about his options a little longer, giving each one last thorough look to determine his best course of action once and for all. Eventually, he made a choice. Reaching to his nightstand, he pulled out a tablet and began typing a message. 

_Paro, is that offer to visit Ge still available?_


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I’m having a promising time at NaNoWriMo (not). Oh well. I have a feeling a lot of you with be shipping Paro/Ben by the end of this ;)

He left Hosian Prime for the faraway Genian system within a week, leaving with a heart both heavy and elated. Leaving his mother had been hard and he was certain he had cried when he embraced her for the last time but he couldn’t recall. Leia had cried too, though she had tried to hide it; he knew it was difficult for her.

Even with hyperspace jump, the journey was long. Ben normally would’ve attempted to talk to the pilot but the man was a stranger that seemed to have no interest in the teenager so Ben spent all his time in the small sitting lounge, rereading his messages to Paro

She had been more than excited to hear that he was coming and had messaged him about Ge’s culture and people so he wouldn’t go incompletely unknowledgeable. She had told him of some etiquette so he wouldn’t be considered the rudest person to have ever set foot on Ge the moment he landed but he honestly couldn’t remember most of it. Off the top of his head, he could name three: no public displays of affection; don’t eat, accept gifts or do anything with the left hand, and don’t touch people’s feet. How he was supposed to remember all of it, he wasn’t sure. She had also given him instructions on what would happen once he landed so it would create a good impression for the people accompanying her. She would place a flower garland around his neck and perform something called a _puja,_ which was a prayer of some sort that was said to honor important guests. The only thing he really needed to do at this point was stand there and wait until the prayer was over, which wouldn’t take more than 2 minutes. From that point on, he only needed to remember the etiquette of the planet, he hoped.

He had gotten other advice but they had been much more foreboding than anything Paro had send him. After announcing his trip to the elusive planet, both the Chancellor and his mother had filled him in with their knowledge of the planet, most of it falling on the political spectrum. While slightly different, one piece of information was the same from both women: beware Neerav Bhattacharya, Paro’s Grand Vizier.

A staunch isolationist, he was Paro’s most trusted advisor and the reason the planet had largely remained closed off despite the Queen’s efforts. Rumors had it that Paro and Neerav were as close as siblings and other rumors said that he would be the prime candidate if Paro decided it was time for her to consider a spouse; the last rumor made Ben feel uneasy, probably because he imagined the Vizier to be some old man who was three times Paro's age and Paro was just barely 18.

Another individual he was warned about was Sarika Kulkarni, Paro’s grandmother. Much like the Vizier, she was also a staunch isolationist and, on the occasions her words had reached the Senate, they were harsher and colder than anything the Vizier had said. The rumors were that she had ensured that the Genian government would close off the planet, that she and her son-in-law were the masterminds behind the elaborate shield that now encompassed the planet, and that she was the one to discover the powerful potential of the clypsoate. If it was true or just rumors, Ben had no idea but he decided to be wary; he’d rather not make enemies while he was there.

The entire trip ended up being an hour long at least. Once they dropped out of the jump, Ben rushed to the nearest viewport, anxious to see the planet and its infamous shield. Against the bright green land, the blue hue of the force field was easy to see but challenging against the blue of the oceans. Ben could spot many buildings below him but it was impossible to determine which one was the palace; so many of the large buildings looked like a palace from above. Once he spotted the ominous black metal of the gate, he headed towards the cockpit, wanting to see what would transpire there. He had barely stepped in when he heard someone speak through the communicator.

“Hosian Prime ship, this is the Genian Gate Control. State your business.”

“Genian Gate Control. We are escorting Benjamin Solo to Ge. He was invited by the Queen. We were told you were notified out our arrival.” The pilot responded. There was silence on the other end.

“Bring your ship closer and prepare for inspection.”

Ben had been told that there would be an inspection but regardless, he was nervous. Nervous because, these people would decide whether or not he would be allowed onto the planet. Yes, he was there by Paro’s personal invite but if they found something on the ship that was illegal or raised red flags for the gate control, that invite would be void and he would be turned away.

Within minutes, a ship departed from the gate and headed towards them. Both the pilot and Ben left the cockpit and headed to the door to greet them. When the door opened, Ben spotted five people: an officer and four soldiers, all dressed in uniforms made of a dark red fabric and carrying weapons of black metal. As the officer approached him, the soldiers spread out and began searching the ship, some carrying scanners that checked for heartbeats and signatures of narcotics.

“This won’t take long.” The officer assured the pilot and Ben, barely sparing the two a glance; it was obvious they didn’t trust them. When she spotted Ben’s lightsaber on his hip, they said. “Given a normal situation, I’d have to confiscate that but, the Queen has given permission for you to carry it around, granted that you don’t do anything reckless.” By their tone, Ben figured that they were probably hoping he would do something reckless.

A soldier returned to the entrance and said something to the officer in Genian. They turned to a pad and tapped a few buttons.

“You’ve cleared the inspection. You may land. Gate control will instruct you further.” As the Genians returned to their own ship, both the pilot and Ben took a breath of relief.

Once back in the cockpit, they received the instructions they had been informed of and headed past gate towards the surface. Now that they were landing, Ben could view the buildings better. IN addition to stepping into a foreign planet, it felt as though he was stepping into the past as the buildings reminded him of the buildings built millennia ago. Nothing looked at all like the current buildings on Hosian Prime or at the Temple and all of the buildings had an ancient, traditional look and feeling to them. If it weren’t for the ships that were zooming around them occasionally, Ben could’ve convinced himself that he had traveled back in time.

He was so fixated at the beauty of the buildings and fascinated by the people walking below him that he barely noticed the building the ship was heading towards. He snapped out of his trance quickly and headed towards the exit, his hands beginning to sweat from nervousness. After six years, he would finally see Paro again. How much had she changed? Was she still the shy 12 year old he had met 6 years ago? Or was she a completely different person now?

The door opened. Straightening his back, he stepped out into the Genian heat, feeling as though his heart beat faster when he spotted Paro. It couldn't be any other. She looked every bit a queen, dressed in rich yellow silks and more gold jewelry than he ever recalled her wearing.

As he walked towards her, she began to move too, a servant following her close by, the promised flower garland in her hand. When they met halfway, they merely looked at each other, conveying silent messages of greeting and hopes of rekindled friendship

Silently but with her eyes on him, she stepped forward. He bowed his head towards her, put his hands together (as he was told to do) and let her put the flower garland on him. She then took a small gold plate containing a small oil lamp and a small gold bowl containing a red powder. Whispering in her native tongue, she waved the smoke of the oil lamp towards him. She then took some of the powder and smeared it in the area between his eyebrows.

“Benjamin Solo.” She said softly, a smile on her face while she handed the plate to a servant. “Welcome to Ge.” And etiquette be damned, Paro flung her arms around his neck and embraced him tightly.

“I thought you said this wasn’t allowed.” Ben joked softly.

“It’s not like the entirety of Ge is watching.” Paro joked back, nudging to the small group of people that were watching them.

“You know,” He said after they separated, though he remained close, “If I put my head close and whisper something to you, they’ll think we’re plotting something.” The two giggled.

“And then if I gasp and looked shocked,” Paro added, letting out a fake gasp and putting on a look of shock, “Then they’ll definitely know we’re plotting.” They laughed and embraced once more. “It’s so good to see you.”

“I missed you.”

“Come. You have to meet my family.” Paro said, pulling away. Taking Ben’s hand, she pulled him towards the group. Excluding the guards and a man in black, there were five people. Paro first turned towards an elderly woman dressed entirely in white. “This is my grandmother, Sarika Kulkarni.” Ben bowed his head and put his hands together. The woman bowed her head in return though her expression was anything but welcoming. They continued down the line, where Ben was introduced to Paro’s younger sisters: Neela who only smiled at him, the twins Dipika and Dipali who giggled loudly when they were introduced and the youngest, Reshani, who was so shy that she quickly ran to Sarika when Ben greeted her. Paro then led him to a man that had been standing next to Sarika.

“This is my Grand Vizier, Neerav Bhattacharya.”

If Ben had been anticipated one thing when he had heard about the Vizier was that the man was likely old enough to be Paro’s father, as most individuals in such positions would be. But the man standing in front of him looked hardly older than 25.  Regardless of his youthful look, Neerav looked as authoritative as any Vizier would be. He was dressed entirely in black, hints of purple and red in his outfit and in his hand, he carried a staff that the Viziers of Ge carried, a black staff with the top embellished with a gold snake head with emerald eyes. The combination made him appear powerful and wise. Much like Sarika, he bowed his head, his expression hinting at displeasure.

"Welcome to Ge, Benjamin Solo." Neerav said, his voice low but polite. "I trust you had little hassle getting past the gate."

"It went as smooth as it could." Ben answered. Behind him, he heard Sarika mumble something, which made Paro glare at her. She then turned back to Ben

"Let me show you around." She walked in the direction of the palace, the guards following once Ben had joined her. When they were out of sight of her family, she began to speak. "Six years and you've finally managed to get onto my planet. So, what do you think so far?"

"Hot." He answered, which made Paro laugh.

"You're not the first visitor that has ever told me that. You’ll get used to the heat. How is your mother?”

“She’s fine. Still busy ruling Alderaan and being a Senator.”

“How about your father?” Ben was a bit surprised to hear that question; whenever anyone asked about his family, they always wanted to speak about his mother, never his father.

“Still getting into trouble.” The two laughed at his answer. “Now, enough questions from you. How have you been? What have you been doing these last six years?”

"Truth be told, not a lot. Being Queen and training with my Bendu are both time consuming activities, especially now that the regency has stopped and I rule on my own."

"Regency? I thought you were already ruling on your own." He had had that assumption, considering that neither his mother nor the chancellor nor anyone else had ever mentioned a regency; although, a regency would explain why messages between the senate and Ge were always signed by the Vizier and not by Paro.

"I wasn't. Not fully anyway."

"Your father helped you?" He asked but when Paro's face fell, he instantly felt guilty. "Sorry, I didn't know." He quickly apologized.

"It's alright." She assured, though her expression said otherwise. "I didn't expect you to know; it wasn't as if it was publicized all over the Galaxy." They continued their walk, heading down some steps into a marble courtyard, which would lead the way to Ben's room. His mind was racing with ideas for conversation topics to ease the silence when Paro suddenly yelled,

"Stop!" And yanked on Ben's arm, stopping his pace. She pointed down once she noted the confusion on his face. On the floor was a massive drawing of a lotus flower colored bold shades of red, pink and orange. "I made it this morning and I'd rather not have it destroyed now."

"What is that?"

" _Rangoli_ , made with colored sand. It's a tradition for _Deepavali_."

"Deepa- what?"

" _Deepavali_." She repeated, enunciating a little more. "It's the Festival of Lights. It celebrates the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance and hope over despair. And decorating our homes with _rangoli_ is one of the many traditions for the festival."

"What other traditions are there?" Ben inquired as they continued to walk, the boy now careful to watch his step as they walked by images of birds, more flowers and geometric shapes.

"It varies according to region and families but the most typical traditions include gifting of candy to your neighbors, prayers and shopping. But that all happens during the day. I personally think that the most amazing time of _Deepavali_ is at night. Everyone lights diyas in and outside their homes; it's such a magical sight. You'll be able to see them this year; _Deepavali_ is in a few days."

"Do I need to dress up?"

"A little. It's expected that people wear their finest when the lights are turned on."

"Would these be okay?" Ben took a step back and spread his arms, showing his slightly dirty Jedi robes. Paro frowned playfully as she inspected him.

"If you want the true Genian experience, you'll need new clothes. I can have someone escort you to the market to help you find some clothing."

"Want to come with me?"

“I would love to join you but I had a prior commitment with my Bendu today.”

“I see.” He shouldn’t have been surprised but he was still a bit upset to hear it.

“I can send Neelam to help you. They’re always a joy to have around.”

“Do you have any other commitments I should know about?” Ben inquired.

“Other than Queenly business that I can’t imagine would interest you in the slightest, my time will be entirely devoted to you.”

\-----

“I don’t like this boy.” Sarika and four of her granddaughters were relaxing in a private room, Neela, the twins and Reshani making the finishing touches on the outfits they would be wearing for _Deepavali_ while Sarika sat on a swinging bench and Neerav looked out the window overlooking the garden. “He’s hiding something and I suspect it has to do with the Senate; he came directly from Hosian Prime after sitting through one of their meetings.”

“You think that of every outsider, _Badi-Ma_. You said that those Rus mercenaries that came a few days ago were here to spread communist thoughts and they haven’t caused any trouble whatsoever.” Neela said. “Ben doesn’t seem that bad to me.”

“Me neither. He’s really cute actually.” Dipika said, causing her twin to blush and giggle.

“Girls!” Sarika scolded, causing the twins to fall silent. “It doesn’t matter. That boy is trouble.”

“Say what you want about the boy,” Neerav said, “he’s here at Paro’s invite so we have to treat him as a guest, as much as it pains me to say so.”

“I’ll treat him as a guest if he acts courteous enough. You saw his behavior at the landing pad.”

“That’s not bad, _Badi-Ma_.” Reshani piped. “You let me hug Paro all the time.”

“Paro is your sister; Ben is a senator’s and smuggler’s son and an outsider.”

“Why are you so against outsiders?” Neela suddenly snapped, throwing down her cloth and glaring at her grandmother. “They aren’t so bad.”

“You know nothing, child.” Sarika snapped back, “You know nothing of what the outsiders are like; I lost my daughter and my son, your mother and uncle, to those monsters and our planet would be destroyed if it had fallen into their hands. They will seem kind and lovely and good at the beginning but they turn on you and destroy everything. That’s what outsiders are like, Neela, so do you think this Jedi boy is any different? Don’t fool yourself; you’ll save yourself much pain in the future.” The two glared at each other before Neela got up, threw down the purple cloth she had been embroidering and stormed out the room, everyone watching her go. “Foolish child.” Sarika muttered.

It became awkwardly silent for a while, the three girls continuing with their clothing while Sarika watched, occasionally giving them instructions, and Neerav continuing with his stare out the window, likely thinking about the Queen’s guest. Eventually, a servant walked in, directly addressing Sarika.

“My lady, forgive the intrusion but it’s time for the princesses’ lessons.” The woman nodded and motioned to her grandchildren to go.

“Go ahead, I will see you later.” The three girls scrambled up, Dipika taking Reshani’s hand and leaving the room. Neerav moved to leave as well but was stopped when Sarika spoke.

“I want that boy watched, Neerav.” She said sharply, rising from the bench. “I don’t trust him.” The man merely nodded and tried once more to walk away. “Something is bothering you, Neerav. I can see it.”

“I’m just concerned for Paro, that is all.” The man answered.

“Your concern is mine.” She walked back to the bench and motioned to the Vizier to sit next to her. “Many years ago, my son-in-law spoke of the birth celebration of the boy.” She began once Neerav was seated. “He told me that it was predicted that he would meet his future wife when he was 10; Ben met Paro on his tenth birthday.”

“But he met the heiress to Mandalore on that day too.”

“Perhaps but what is Mandalore compared to Ge. We have resources that cannot be found anywhere else in the Galaxy while Mandalore offers nothing to the Republic.”

“You think that Ben is here with the intent to marry Paro.” Neerav said. A marriage between Paro and Ben would make it easier for the Senate to get access to the planet and therefore, its resources. A union as that would make it significantly harder for Ge to remain in its isolated state.

“I won’t let Paro marry some outsider.” Sarika said, gritting her teeth. “You are far more suitable than that boy could ever hope to be.”

“My Lady, forgive me.” Neerav said, nearly jumping up from the chair and trying to hide the stutter of surprise. “Honored that I am that you would deem me worthy, my place is at Paro’s side as her Vizier, not her husband.”

“We shall see.” Sarika smirked. She rose from her seat and headed for the door, saying, “But mark my words, Neerav: Ben will never marry Paro, if it’s the last thing I do.”

\----

The excursion into the city to find an outfit for _Deepavali_ had been interesting, to say the least. Ben had thought it would simply consist of going to a store, finding an outfit and returning to the palace; he had been very wrong.

At first, Ben didn’t know what to make of Neelam. He thought they were a little odd in their mannerisms but, with their goodhearted nature and good sense of humor, Ben found himself warming up to them quickly. They were obviously quite excited to accompany Ben as they spoke quickly and pointed at everything worth pointing to and sharing interesting facts or comment about said thing. Once Neelam had actually paused to take a breath, Ben had the opportunity to ask questions himself; he was quite curious to learn more about Ge.

The first and only question he managed to ask was in regards to why everything and nearly everyone on Ge looked more traditional. Neelam explained that, back when the Empire occupied the planet, the Imperialists had forbidden the Genians from practicing anything from their ancient culture. This included being forbidden from wearing the traditional dress, speaking the language, making traditional dishes, and even forbidden Genians from designing buildings or reading texts written in Genian. When the Empire was forced off the planet, the previous King had enforced policies that revived the culture, these policies continued by Paro.

It was then they reached the shop, which had been stuffed to the brim with people buying outfits for the festival. Neelam exited the palanquin and a few words later, the shop began to empty, every eye watching as Ben exited the vehicle and entered. Quite quickly, they found an outfit for the visitor and the two were back on the street. They could’ve headed back to the palace right then but Neelam insisted Ben see more of the city.

It was nighttime by the time they made it back to the palace. Neelam helped Ben back to his room and ordered a light meal for him, before leaving him in peace. After eating the dinner, Ben decided to explore and attempt to find Paro. He had no idea where anything was so trying to find Paro or any familiar face was challenging. He had been walking around for maybe an hour when he finally found his friend, feeling a sense of elation when he saw her.

She lay sprawled out on a bench, playing a card game, her outfit changed from the yellow silk and excessive jewelry to a light pink sari with no veil and only small earrings, a thin necklace and a few bangles as accessories.

"Enjoy your time in the city?" She asked, flipping over a card and placing it on a pile, not even sparing a glance for him.

"I did." He responded, squatting down next to the table on which her cards were.

"How did you find it?" She asked, putting down her cards.

"It was much more crowded then I thought it would be but I liked it."

"Glad to hear the planet hasn't been entirely ruined for you yet." She giggled. "So, did you find your outfit?"

“Yes, I did.”

“And did you get anything from the market; Neelam would never let you go back without seeing the market first.”

"I bought a gift for you." He reached into his pocket and pulled forth a bracelet. It was gold in color, and several intertwined flowers creating the circular jewel, the center of each flower decorated by a colored gem. Hearing a light gasp from his friend, Ben held the bracelet out to her. She took it, gently holding it as she admired it. 

"It's very beautiful. Thank you." After a few moment of admiring it, Ben took the jewelry back from her, took her right hand and tried to slide it onto her wrist, only to find that it wouldn’t go on. He pushed a little harder but the jewel wouldn't go past its spot. Paro wasn't helped by either as she was trying to hold in laughter. He tried again but the bracelet stubbornly remained on her hand.

"Ben." Paro eventually interjected after he tried a third time. She took the bracelet off and pulled at a clasp that was blended into the bracelet. Just like that, the bracelet clipped open, allowing for it to be put on.

Ben stared at the bracelet then at Paro before the two burst out in laughter.

"You could've told me!" Ben laughed.

"I couldn't resist." They laughed a little longer as Ben finally managed to put the bracelet on.

\----

A shadow had been watching the pair from afar but their keen eyes saw what had transpired. Having seen enough, they dashed down the hall, slithering from one shadow to the next towards their destination. As expected, the Vizier was in his work room, working on something the shadow cared nothing for. He whispered his words into the Vizier’s ear, who immediately stopped his work at what he heard. The two exchanged a knowing glance.

Sarika’s suspicions had been correct. The gifting of bracelets and bangles was not an uncommon practice on the planet. The exchange of such jewels were strong symbols of the bond between siblings or the strength of friendship. But when gifted from a man to a woman, the bangles were signs of courtship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I attempted an aesthetic post for Ge. You can find it here [Ge Aesthetic](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com/post/167323529660/planet-aesthetic-ge)
> 
> Come bug me on Tumblr: [petalouda85.tumblr.com](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s a lot of things in here: a new character, new information about Neerav and Ge, info about the Genian Jedi Order, and some cute moments between Paro and Ben. You ship them yet? :)

With Deepavali tomorrow, Neerav was overwhelmed with last minute preparations that the Queen had no time to attend to and ensuring that everything else was ready to go. Everything appeared to be in order – Paro would attend a _puja_ at the Temple, then a performance at the Akshara Theater, and later watch the lighting the lights from the royal barge on the bay. It all looked simple and straightforward but the Vizier had run into a problem: there wasn’t enough security. Yes, Paro’s personal guards would be there as well as the military but it was not enough. Adding to the problem was that majority of the soldiers would be distracted by the festivities and many were demanding higher pay in compensation for working during the festival. Not necessarily an unfair demand but it significantly increased the overall cost of the festival.

“You look ready to tear your own head off.” Gulna, the Minister of Defense, noted as she walked in.

“A fair assessment.” Neerav responded, returning his sight back to his tablet to look over the numbers once more. “Is it at all possible for you to get assign more soldiers for the festival?”

“Not likely.” Gulna answered as she grabbed a golden goblet and poured herself some wine. “The resources I have at my disposal are already stretched thin and the soldiers that are already working aren’t happy to begin with. The only way I could convince more to help would be if they were paid more.”

“That would only add to costs.” Neerav threw down his tablet and went to the window, both to calm his anger and gather his thoughts.

“Hire mercenaries.” Gulna offered.

“I don’t want that scum anywhere near the Queen. You can’t trust someone whose loyalty only lies with money.”

“You don’t need to trust them. You only need to pay them. And it’s only for one night. After that, you can kick them back onto the streets and never look them in the eye ever again.”

“Are you, by chance, speaking of the Rus mercenaries?” Neerav asked as he returned to his seat.

“I am. As mercenaries are concerned, they’re a calm bunch. Other than complaints of their existence, I’ve had zero reports of incidents from them.”

“That makes them more decent than majority of the mercenaries I’ve encountered. Find the leaders and bring them here; I want to speak with them. Confiscate any weaponry or suspicious item you find.” Gulna nodded and, after finishing her drink, left the room to find the leaders. As he waited, the Vizier attempted to complete more of the preparations. However, he soon felt the recurring pain in his legs and his head. He reached for pain medication, which proved to be a challenging as the paralysis in his hand made it difficult to remove the lid of the container. He managed and thankfully, the pain in his legs subsided quickly. The paralysis in his hand, however, was stubborn and he had to continue his work as best he could with one hand. That he had to stop quickly too as he felt the paralysis on the left side of his body intensify. He knew he should go to the medbay but there was no time. The knock on the door told him Gulna was back.

“Come in.” The Vizier said.

Two men were brought in, one in his thirties and the other in his early twenties. Only the elder man gave the Vizier a nod of acknowledgement, the younger man immediately sitting down, either not noticing Neerav’s look of distaste or just not caring. Eventually, the elder man sat too but he at least waited until the Vizier gave an indicator that he was allowed to do so.

“You might be wondering why I called you here.” Neerav began, a servant entering to serve them refreshments for the length of the meeting. The Vizier was given a golden cup of wine first, then the elder mercenary but when the servant came to the younger one, the man took the decanter from the servant and began to drink from that.

Immediately, Neerav didn’t trust the younger mercenary. In addition to the abhorrent manners he had been displaying thus far, he was obviously a man who was up to no good. His tattoos were evident enough of that. On his hands alone, Neerav counted at least three, two in the palms and the third on top his left hand. Peeking underneath the edge of his dark blue jacket was the evidence of two tattoo sleeves. Furthermore, he had noted that the hands of the young mercenary were shaking slightly. Caused by drugs no doubt. He was certainly not the type of thing he’d want anywhere near Paro; he would need to place them far enough from her but close enough that they would be useful.

“It is odd for us to be called be a high-ranking man as yourself.” The elder mercenary said, his voice laced with a Rus accent.

“I have a job offer for you.” Neerav explained. “Tomorrow, there will be a festival and I find myself lacking proper security for the Queen.”

“What is payment?” The younger mercenary asked after taking a large chug of wine.

“5000 credits.”

“Per man or for the entire job?”

“Per man.” At the answer, the two mercenaries leaned closer and began whispering in their language.

“We accept but we will require our weaponry back.” The elder mercenary declared.

“They will have to be confiscated again once the job is completed” Neerav reminded the man, who nodded.” Then we have a deal. Report to Gulna early tomorrow morning. What are your names? I will tell the guards at the gate to expect you tomorrow.”

“Aleksy Czajkowski.” The elder mercenary answered and the younger one said,

“Nikolai Petrenko.”

* * *

For the first time in what was probably an eternity, Ben had slept well. It was a surprising but welcome relief. It was slightly odd too as this sudden fitful sleep had come out of the blue and he had changed nothing in his usual sleeping routine. No medicine or sleep inducing activities. The only thing that had changed were his dreams. For once, they had been pleasant.

He had had two dreams the previous night. In the first dream, he was lying in the grass with his friend next to him, Paro dressed in white with a black shawl wrapped around her. It was nighttime with the sky clear and thousands of stars sparkling above them. Then a meteor shower happened and they just lay there, enjoying the sight, their hands almost touching.

The second dream was also at night but this time, they were in a boat, drifting in the bay near the palace. Countless little clay diyas floated on the water while fireworks were launched into the sky, filling the night with light. At one point, Ben looked away from the fireworks to look at his friend, whose smile was brighter than all the lights visible. She handed him a lit diya and together, they put them in the water, watching them float away to join the other lights.

He wished they had never ended; they were so beautiful, so peaceful. They were such a contrast to the nightmares he was used to. He would gladly sleep forever if it meant he see those dreams.

Eventually, he dragged himself out of bed, not that he had anything to do that morning. Paro was busy and wouldn’t be free to do anything until later in the day, which she apparently had already planned as she had told him to meet her on the rooftop in the evening. He supposed to he could spend some time with Paro’s sisters, all of whom seemed to actually like him, but he found they were with Sarika, as they usually were. The woman only needed to glare at him to get him to turn around and leave; he already knew she hated him so he’d rather avoid provoking her more.

He sought out Neelam, who was more than happy to take Ben out into the city once more. They didn’t go in a palanquin and with an entourage of guards, they went into the city, quickly stumbling into the market. Without the thick covers of the palanquin, Ben immediately noticed the people staring at him, some of them in curiosity, others in fear, others in revulsion. He wasn’t surprised though; no doubt many of them had never seen a non-Genian and there was still rampant mistrust of the outsiders thanks to what had transpired between the planet, the Empire and eventually, the Republic; Neelam had explained it all.

Under Imperial rule, Ge was a planet on which wealthy imperialists lived and used to get away from the dredges of war. Compared to the bland food, the bland colors, fear of battle and the almost constant struggle to keep planets at bay, Ge was heavenly, with its vast green forests and rich resources. The Imperials took it all; the spices, the teas, the wines, the silks, the jewelry and rarely did the Genians ever see compensation for their hard, slave-like manual labor. Tensions between the Genians and the Imperials were high but there were never any rebellion; farming tools make poor weapons against the armored Stormtroopers and their blasters and nothing could inspire the Genians to fight for their freedom.

Neelam explained that the Rebellion did spark more tension and occasional squabbles between stormtroopers and Genians occurred but full out rebellion did not happen until a child and her mother were publicly beaten without provocation by patrolling troopers.

Led by Ajit, the Genian rebels drove the Imperials from the planet. That was when the hatred towards the Republic began. During the Rebellion, Ajit had send several distress signals, almost begging for help fighting off the Imperialists but help never came. Not from the Rebellion nor the Republic. The Genians prospered over their oppressors eventually, but at a great cost of life.

Then the clypsoate was discovered. Once it became public knowledge how powerful the material was, the Republic and the Empire remnants flocked to the planet, wanting to get their greedy hands on the material, knowing that the one that controlled it could change the power balance in the galaxy, placing the Empire back in power or lifting the Republic to the dominant power. For a time, it seemed that the Genians would give over the metal to the Republic. No one knows why the alliance between the two broke. The Republic said that Ge refused to honor the agreements made; the Genians claimed the Republic were going to use the clypsoate to rule the galaxy like the Empire did and that they had attacked neutral ships when the responses were late. Whatever it was, the Republic never received any clypsoate, the planet had been closed off and festering hatred for the outsiders had dominated politics and life on Ge ever since.

When Paro became queen, there was hope that this hatred would suspend enough that travel would be easier as well as trade but those hopes had been unfilled; it is challenging to change the mindset of an entire planet.

Neelam and Ben looked from stall to stall, only buying a few pieces of candy for the festival tomorrow. They eventually stopped by a small jewelry stand, it overflowing with bangles and earrings and naths and tikkas and necklaces.

“There is so much.” Ben gawked. “Why is there always so much jewelry?”

“Many reasons, young prince.” Neelam enthused. “Wearing the precious metals of gold and silver invoke the blessings of Laxmi. Wear jewelry and luck will always be near. Besides, they are very beauti- oh!” They couldn’t finish their sentence as a girl, perhaps eight years old, rammed into Neelam. “Hello, little one.” The girl, who was obviously not Genian, began to say something in an unknown languages, probably apologizing. She looked scared.

“Yelena!” A voice called and a man in his twenties, dressed entirely in black with the exception of a dark blue jacket and tattoos on his hands, ran up and addressed Neelam. “Forgive us; she has tendency to run off.”

“No harm done, good sir!” Neelam assured, smiling warmly at the child, who had taken the man’s hand and was hiding behind him slightly while glancing at the pile of jewelry next to them. “She was just excited to see the beauty here and I was just a little too close.” The man smiled at Neelam in response and he said something to the child. She smiled back and then promptly returned to the jewelry, admiring all of it.

Ben continued to look to, thinking about giving another one to Paro, as she really liked the other one he gave. In his peripheral, he saw the girl grab a plain silver bracelet. She spoke excitedly to the man, likely asking if she could get it; judging by their clothing, such luxuries were rare treats.

“How much is this?” The man asked the merchant at the stall.

“200 credits.” He sneered. At the answer, the man’s face immediately deflated, reaching into his pocket to grab a small pile of credits; something told Ben that that was all the man had left.

“Would you accept 120?” The man asked.

“No. 200 or nothing.” The merchant reached forward and snatched the bracelet from the child’s hand. She gasped and looked on the verge of tears but remained silent.

The man obviously wanted to say something, even looked ready to attack the merchant. Instead, he knelt down and began to speak softly to Yelena.

“Here.” Neelam said as they handed 200 credits to the merchant, who reluctantly gave them the bracelet, muttering something in Genian. “That is not nice to say. You should be ashamed of yourself.” Neelam scolded before they turned towards Yelena and the man. They held out the bracelet to the girl. “Here you go.”

The man and the child stared at the bracelet, unsure of how to react to such a kindness. The girl moved first, taking the item from Neelam. She muttered in her language, possibly a thank you, while the man continued to look at the bracelet in awe, his disbelief so potent that Ben didn’t even need to look into his mind to feel it.

“Here.” The man said suddenly, hurriedly reaching into his pocket to retrieve his own credits. He tried to hand the pile to Neelam, who closed the man’s fist and pushed it back towards him.

“It is a gift, sir.” They said kindly.

“Nobody ever gives anything for free.” The man said. Most people would interpret his tone as accusatory, maybe even as a sign he was insulted at the thought of being a given something because he couldn’t afford it on his own but Ben didn’t interpret it as that. Again, it was disbelief; he wondered what the man had seen and done to make him adopt such a view.

“I do. And if you try to give me money again, I will slap you.” Neelam responded. That made the man smile a little. Once again, he tried to protest, but when Yelena put on the bracelet and he caught sight of her smile, Ben sensed a change within the man.

“Thank you.” The man said to Neelam. “I will never forget this.”

With an acknowledgement, Neelam said goodbye to the man and Yelena, the child waving at them once more before they disappeared from sight.

The two quickly became bored of the market as it got even busier. Thankfully, Neelam was extremely knowledgeable of the city and took him to sites that Ben hadn’t been able to see in his previous visit to the city. The last place they went to was the Temple of the Order of Santulan, or the Temple of Ge’s Jedi Order.

Ben immediately felt the Force in the Temple when he stepped in but everything was just as different as the rest of the planet had been. Other than the different architecture, Ben saw immediate differences in uniform. While the Padawans and Jedis at the Temple wore mostly browns and whites, the Genian Jedi wore robes of a reddish orange or a deep red, their equivalent of a Padawan in the former color and their Jedi Knights in the latter. And, instead of the infamous Padawan braid, the Genian Padawans would shave all their hair once their training had initiated, never to allow it to grow until they had finished it.

Ben also caught sight of their method of meditating. While his order would typically meditate by sitting down cross-legged, the Genians meditated through movement, the moves coordinated, smooth and in time with their breathing. As explained by a practitioner who had noticed him watching, this method could also be utilized in combat as defense. The practitioner, whose name was Kiran, joined Neelam and Ben, answering questions and showing more of the Temple.

The Order’s beliefs reminded Ben of stories of the Gray Jedi, mainly in the fact that the Genians practiced both from the Sith ideology and the Jedi ideology. The ultimate goal was to achieve a perfect balance between the Light and the Dark, to become a Bendu. Much like the Jedi, they learned combat with the lightsabers but that training was a mixture of offense and defense. IN addition, they learned many forms of martial arts to aid their path to balance. In their lore, there was a Bendu so powerful and balanced that they could engage in combat with a host of opponents, without weapons, with their eyes closed, and still emerge victorious; many of the practitioners wanted to achieve such balance in the Force that the Force could act as their eyes.

Kiran continued to speak but eventually, Ben couldn’t hear anymore. A voice sounded through his mind, a voice he didn’t recognize. However, he knew it wasn’t the dark voice he often heard in his nightmares. This voice was filled with wisdom and kindness.

“ _Trust the Force. It will guide you_. _The path is long and uncertain but all shall be as it should. The Force will prevail._ ” It continued by saying, “ _with every temptation, there will be a way of escape_.” And then silence.

From there on, the time flew by at the Temple as Kiran showed him more of the many places within it and even allowed him to meditate and spar with the other Padawans. According to them, he had much to learn. He wasn’t used to their style of fighting, which he discerned to have come from Jar’kai, and when he attempted their method of meditation, he found himself picking up the movements quickly but having trouble connecting to the Force through it. He wasn’t too upset about any of it though as Kiran and the other Padawans were all supportive and made sure his experience was enjoyable.

They left the temple after Ben received a message from Paro, where she asked to meet her on the rooftop of the palace in an hour. That same hour went by slowly as Ben’s excitement made him check the time often.

Finally, with five minutes to the hour, Ben headed towards the meeting spot. Emerging from the broad staircase, he was greeted by an astonishing view, it taking his breath for a moment. He could see everything, the city, the forest, the mountains, everything. During his visit, he had been shown many wondrous sights but this put them all to shame. He headed to the spot where he could see the city best, spotting that everything was now much quieter compared to a few hours ago. He then went to the spot that held the best view of the forest, which seemed endless from this vantage point.

“Quite a view, isn’t it?” He turned around and saw his friend by the staircase, a wave of her handmaidens coming up and moving to a spot to the right, some carrying bowls, others a large round tray, and a few more carrying a carpet. He looked back over the far expanse of the forest.

“It’s breathtaking.” He said softly. But when he looked, he saw something. In the distance was a large plume of black smoke.

“And just as fast, you discover the one thing that ruins the appearance.” Paro said softly as she joined him, looking at the black smoke.

“What is that?”

“That is the smoke of a clypsoate mine.” Paro explained.

“So that is the source of the metal that everyone in galaxy wants.” There was no turning back now.

“Indeed.”

“This will probably sound stupid but why is that stuff so special?” It was a genuine question. He had heard of the material and he knew it was valuable but why it was so valuable, he had no idea. Neither the Chancellor nor his mother had told him and everyone else was in the same situation as him. He wanted to know before he made his decision.

 “Turn on your lightsaber.” She said, moving towards one of her guards and saying something to him in Genian. As Ben pulled forth his saber and turned it on, the guard unsheathed his sword and handed it to his queen.

“The primary weapon of a royal’s guard.” She explained, showing the curved blade to her friend. “The blade is made entirely from clypsoate. Swing your lightsaber against it.”

“Won’t it break?” Ben protested. Paro took the sword by the handle and pointed the blade towards him. He swung but, instead of searing the metal in half, the lightsaber was blocked by the blade as if it were a lightsaber itself. “How?” Ben sputtered in disbelief as the weapons were put away.

“Clypsoate has the ability to absorb energy almost 200 times more effectively than durasteel.” She explained. “A star destroyer made entirely of it could easily withstand 20 simultaneous blasts from ventral cannons and continue its way without as much as a scratch. Powerful and yet, dangerous. In the wrong hands, this material could cause immense damage.” She sat down upon the carpet that her handmaidens had laid down. As Ben joined her, she continued to speak. “The Chancellor wants it. I know she does but she will never get it.”

“Why not?”

“Ben,” She began slowly, “the only person I trust with this material is myself; how can anyone expect me to trust strangers with it? If I’m the only one controlling it, I know where it goes, I know how it’s being used. But if I give it to the Senate or anyone else, they can use it to make weapons, ships with which to start more wars and perhaps, create a more formidable foe than the Empire. I know my own goals and desires and ruling the galaxy is not one of them.”

“So is that why the shield is there? To stop people from taking it?”

“Among other reasons.” Was the only thing Paro responded with, her expression more than enough to tell him she didn’t want to speak about the topic anymore. Perfectly timed, another topic presented itself as another handmaiden arrived with a few more golden bowls.

“What is all this?” Ben asked, examining each bowl that lay before him. They were all filled with food but he recognized none of it.

“Supper." Paro answered. “Neelam told me you haven’t had a chance yet to try a wide range of food yet so I decided to make some.”

“You made this?” Ben asked as Paro took a smaller, empty bowl and scooped some food into from one of the larger bowls.

“You sound surprised that I know how to cook.” She said with a smile, giving the bowl to her friend once a sufficient amount was there.

“It’s not exactly something you’d expect from a Queen.”

“True but I get a sense of normalcy when I cook; it’s something so many people do.” They exchanged smiles and Ben looked down at the food. It looked delicious, it smelled delicious too and his mouth began to water.

“What is this?”

“ _Aloo Gobi Masala_. It’s potatoes and cauliflower.” Paro responded as Ben took a small piece of the food and put it in his mouth. It was delicious but its savory taste lasted for five seconds before the spice began to burn his mouth. He could feel his nose start to run once he swallowed and grabbed the cup that Paro was holding out for him. He took a long drink of the soothing liquid, his eyes wet. “You could have warned me that it was spicy!”

“Sorry.” Paro said sheepishly, filling up his cup once it was empty. “I eat it so often that I forget it’s spicy for others.”

After that, supper continued without much trouble, though Ben constantly needed to refill his drink. The food was delicious and he enjoyed it, even if the spice tortured his mouth. They talked, avoiding topics of politics, neither wanting to dampen the atmosphere of the dinner. Perhaps that was a good thing. Then Ben wouldn’t have to reveal the chip he had been carrying since he arrived on the planet.

The Chancellor’s chip had been hiding in the inside of his sleeve, it small enough that it could easily fit into a sewn in slot. But now that he knew what clypsoate was and what it could do, the small chip suddenly felt heavy.

He had made his decision: he would not give the chip to Paro. A material like that didn’t belong with the Republic and neither should it be controlled by them; it belonged here, on Ge, under the control of someone who could control their urges and had no desire for galactic dominance.

The decision seemed absolute and certain but come nighttime, that decision prevented sleep. He didn’t regret his decision and even if he did, the chip now lay snapped in half in the garbage chute. However, what kept him awake were the thoughts of the consequences of his decision. The galaxy would be safer but he had taken away the last thing that could broker a peace between Ge and the Republic. Now there would never be peace between those two powers and negotiations would continue and nothing would ever come of it. He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

Eventually, his raging thoughts became too much and he rose from his bed. He wandered until he reached Paro’s private garden, knowing that he would be alone and that he would get an amazing few of the night sky. He sat down on a bench and looked up. The sky was clear and there were no ships in sight, inside or outside the shield. Even the force field was invisible, it making him think of the night sky back at the Temple.

“Can’t sleep either?” He looked at the source of the voice and saw Paro.

“I rarely have a night where I can sleep. You?”

“Same. It’s gotten better but being queen means that sleep will elude you. There is always so much on your shoulders.”

“Don’t remind me.” Ben said with a light chuckle. “Everyone is expecting me to take over ruling Alderaan one day and I have no idea how to do any of it.”

“Neither did I.” Paro reminded him. “But I turned out alright.” She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You would make a good ruler.” After a moment of silence, she said, “come on. I want to show you something.”

After wrapping the black shawl she had been carrying over her head and shoulders, she took his hand and led him away from the garden. For some reason, he anticipated they would be going to the roof, considering there would a good view too and just as peaceful but she led him out towards an open field behind the palace. From there, they went up a hill, stopping at the top, before them laying a field of flowers and the forests and the mountain in the distance.

“This is one of my favorite spots.” Paro sat as she sat down, Ben following her. “If I ever want to be out of the palace or if I’m feeling stressed, I usually come here. There’s something so tranquil about it.”

“There is.” Ben said softly, feeling a sense of calm washing over him as he looked out over the scene.

“Watch this.” Paro grabbed a small stone that lay near and she tossed it into the field of flowers. When it landed, thousands of fireflies flew up, their little lights illuminating the flowers and the surrounding areas. Ben let out a laugh of awe.

“Amazing.” It was magical and the smile on his friend’s face made him happier than he had been for a while. Looking at her, he noticed something, it taking away his smile. There, on Paro’s forehead by her hairline, was a scar. It was small and one would have to squint slightly to see it but it was prominent enough for Ben to figure out that the cut had been deep and had no doubt bleed a lot at the time. He couldn’t recall if he had ever seen it, though he thought he would’ve remembered if he had. He wondered how she got it, his mind instantly drifting to a single reason.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Paro said, looking down at the grass, her smile now gone, “I didn’t get this from my father or anyone in my family.” She reached up and touched the scar, almost cautiously.

“Then how did you get it?” For a long time, Paro said nothing, uncertain how to start.

“Did Neelam tell you about what started the rebellion against the Empire?” She said and continued once Ben had answered yes, “The child and the mother that were attacked... that was me and my mother.”

“That was you?” Paro nodded.

“My mother said that I bumped my head when the attack happened and it must have hit a sharp stone.” She fell silent, tears slowly falling from her eyes. “I always hid it. Not out of shame or because I think it is ugly. My mother… she couldn’t bear to look at it. That attack… it destroyed my mother and I didn’t want to remind her of what had happened to us. I don’t think it worked as I could always feel her fear but I convinced myself it could have been worse if I showed her my scar.” Then she finally led out a sob, pulling up her knees and sobbing into them.

Ben immediately shuffled closer and with only a brief moment of hesitation, he embraced her, allowing her to cry into his shoulder, feeling the grief within her about her mother. He had no idea what she had been like, what she looked like, he didn’t even know her name but it was obvious Paro had loved her deeply.

“What was your mother’s name?” Ben asked.

“Shailaya.” Paro answered, her voice a little hoarse from her tears. “But everyone called her Shai.”

“It’s a beautiful name. Tell me about her.”

Paro gladly told him about her, the many happy memories she recounted to him removing her grief. With each story she told, Ben grew a little more upset that he never had a chance to meet Shai. From the stories recounted, she sounded like a devoted mother, a loving wife, serious but still playful, much like Paro.

Eventually, they lay down in the grass, switching between looking at the sky and looking at each other while Paro continued to regale him with stories about her family, the stories now including stories of her father and siblings. They laughed a lot, especially at the stories of pranks Paro and her sisters had committed against their cousins; it was quite the contrast at where Paro had been only minutes ago.

After a time, the stories fell silent and they continued to gaze up at the sky, watching as meteorites created lines of light above them.

“Ben?”

“Hm?” Ben responded. Paro looked at him and for a moment, Ben thought he felt her hand brush against his, though he dismissed it as his imagination.

“Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deepavali is happening the next chapter!!!!
> 
> Come bug me on Tumblr: [petalouda85.tumblr.com](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was tedious and I didn't really edit it so please forgive mistakes or if the quality is a bit subpar.
> 
> Anyway, I had this idea and I would like your thoughts. I realized that were a lot of scenes that I wanted to add that I couldn’t because I couldn’t fit them in or because it spoiled something I didn’t want to be revealed until a certain moment. How would you guys feel about me still writing them out and posting them, kinda like deleted scenes you would find on a DVD? If I do this, they probably won’t go up until after I finish the story.

Today was Deepavali.

Ben awoke from a nightmare-less to the sound of people walking past his room, all whispering with excitement. He would’ve attempted to sleep a bit more but there was a full day planned and if he fell asleep again, he would be grumpy for the start of the festivities.

Neelam came in not long after to help him with his new outfit. It was a black kurta, the cuffs and the hem decorated with gold thread, and white paijamas and studded sandals; he really looked like Genian royalty. Neelam offered to wrap a turban on his head but Ben declined; the kurta and paijamas was enough already.

Shortly after he was finished dressing, there was a knock on the door, on the side was Reshani.

The little princess was already dressed for the day too, her saree a beautiful dark shade of purple with gold jewelry studded with gems of the same color. In her hand was a gold plate laden with candy.

“Happy Deepavali.” She said with a heavy accent, holding the plate to Ben.

“Thank you.” He said with a smile as he took the plate from her. He looked closer at the candy and recognized some of them from the market the day before. _Gulab jamun_ , _jaleebi_ , _ladoo_ , _barfi_ , _kesar peda_ , _agra ka pheta_ ; it was almost too much for one person. He held the door open. “Come in, then we can eat of this candy.”

The girl obviously understood as she dashed in, ignoring the scolding of her handmaiden, and jumped onto the bed, giggling when Ben plunked himself onto the mattress with the same enthusiasm.

Even with Reshani’s limited knowledge of Basic, the two held up a decent conversation, eating the candy with plenty of giggles. Reshani asked many questions about the world outside the shield, Ben indulging her gladly, though also with a hint of sadness as the child could barely name the systems closest to her own planet. Though this could be attributed to her age, Ben suspected that such knowledge was kept from her.

Out of nowhere, Reshani bounced off the bed and ran to a chest that Ben hadn’t even bothered to look at since coming to the planet. She grabbed some rolled up cloth and two small, tied-up sacks.

“What’s that?” Ben asked as he sat up and Reshani began to unroll the cloth, revealing a symmetrical cross with many small squares. She then undid the sacks, the first one spilling 16 wooden pieces divided into four colors and the second spilling six cowries.

“ _Pachisi_.” Reshani answered.

It was a board game. Neelam and Reshani explained the rules to him many times and he began to understand it after some time but he was not good at it. Reshani beat him several times and the one game he was on the verge of winning was interrupted by Reshani’s handmaiden reminding the two of them that the Queen was expecting them soon; they were to go to a _puja_ at the temple.

Reshani grabbed Ben’s hand and began dragging him down the hall towards the meeting point at the entrance of the palace. Paro, the twins, Neela, Sarika and Neerav were already waiting, Sarika looking displeased when Reshani and Ben cane running down the stairs, giggling infectiously.

“How kind of you to join us.” Sarika said sharply, looking directly at Ben while Reshani joined her sisters, “I had hoped that punctuality was a skill taught on Alderaan and the Jedi Temple.”

“ _Badi-ma_!” Paro snapped. Sarika promptly said nothing more, though she continued to glare at Ben. The entourage went out to the line of palanquins waiting for them. The largest would be occupied by Neela, the twins, Reshani, and Ben while Sarika and Paro and Neerav got separate, smaller palanquins. Unlike other palanquins, the ones used today had the curtains that usually blocked the outside view were now replaced by curtains made from a see through fabric. Ben sat closest to the entrance with Reshani across from him and the other girls to his right.  

Once everyone was seated, the entourage headed towards the temple. They were barely out the gate when they were swarmed by people wanting to catch a glimpse of the royal family. They were shouting, waving, throwing flowers at the palanquin and the princesses waved back at them, Reshani waving with the most excitement and Neela waving politely. Ben wasn’t sure if he should wave with them; after all, the people were excited to see them, not him.

A woman approached the palanquin and handed a small white flower to Reshani. The young princess shouted a thank you to the woman as stepped away before taking the small gift and placing it in her hair, adding yet another decoration to it.

The _puja_ at the Temple was odd. Stepping into the place of worship, Ben felt out of place and as though he shouldn’t be there. He didn’t understand anything of this religion nor had anyone tried to explain how the prayers went. Neela attempted to help him through and translate what the priests were saying while Paro actively participated with the rituals but he couldn’t follow it and he was aware that some attendees were staring at him. He got through it somehow.

From the Temple, they headed to the theater and they were once again cheered on by a crowd. Soon, they reached the theater, a line of armed guards keeping the crowd back so the royal family could enter the building with ease. Paro was the last to enter, having stayed behind for a moment to wave at the crowd.

“They really love their Queen.” Ben said, having waited for his friend at the entrance. Paro smiled at him in response. Quickly, they were separated, Paro doing down the hall while Ben and the rest of the group went up the stairs, led by Sarika. Eventually, that group got smaller too as Sarika, Neerav and Reshani were seated separately from Neela, Ben and the twins. The four of them got their own little section, overlooking the theater.

It was very different to other theater Ben had seen. All the theaters he had been too had the audience facing the stage, all in one direction. Here, the stage was circular and in the middle of the room, surrounded by places for guests to sit and a small section reserved for musicians. The topmost level, where Ben and the other were seated, had several private sections along the circumference of the building, likely reserved for more elite guests. He worried for a moment about being able to see the performance but he quickly discovered hand held pads that could magnify the performance and he even saw mirrors strategically placed along the walls that would allow the guests to view the performance from every angle.

“Is it different on Alderaan?” Dipika asked, standing by the railing

“What?” Ben asked.

“Theaters. You look as though you’ve never been to a theater.”

“I have been to a theater.” Ben assured, shuffling closer to the railing, where he could see that Paro was seated in the seat of honor on the lowest level, directly across from the door where the performers would come through. “They’re just set up differently.”

“How different?”

“Well, the stage is on one end of the building and everyone is seated facing that one end.”

“It’s not a circle?” Dipika squealed. “That’s weird.”

“Well, I think this is weird.” Ben pointed out. Dipika only shrugged at that comment, turning around to look at her sisters.

“Which dances do you think they’ll show?” She asked.

“I hope they show dances from _Bajirao Mastani_.” Dipali responded.

“I’d like to see something from _Kisna_.” Neela answered.

“What about you, Ben? What dance would you like to see?”

“I don’t know any Genian dances.”

“Any holofilms?”

“None that are Genian.”

“Plays?”

Ben shook his head.

“Then what do you watch on Alderaan?” Dipika seemed utterly in shock. Ben felt shocked too, though not for the same reason; he was baffled how little the child knew about the world beyond the gate of the planet.

“The same things as you?” Ben posited.

Dipika gawked at him.

“They have plays and holofilms, Dipi.” Neela said to her sister. “They just don’t have the same ones as we do.”

The young girl seemed to understand that explanation but to a degree, she looked as confused as before. Thankfully, the lights in the room turned off, marking the beginning of the performance.

It was a spectacle. Ben was entirely in awe at what he witnessed: beautiful costumes made from colors he didn’t even know existed, beautiful décor that he couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams, beautiful choreography that was foreign to him but was perfect for the songs, beautiful music which ranged from songs of love and festivals to songs of victories in battles. It was all in Genian, so he wasn’t able to understand any of it, but Neela’s short translations gave him some sense of what was occurring.

Songs from many different plays and films were performed but only a few had more than one featured. One was a show entitled _Bajirao Mastani_ , a more recent play that was adapted from a story that was thousands of years old.

The first song from that play was _Deewani Mastani_ , which according to Neela, translated approximately to “Crazy Mastani”. In the song, one of the female leads (named Mastani) proclaims that she is crazy in love with Bajirao (the male lead) in front of his wife, Kashibai; such love triangles were a common theme in Genian plays. The second song was _Pinga_ , where Mastani and Kashibai dance together at a festival and Kashi accepts Mastani as her sister wife, though with reluctance.

The last song from the play was a special one. _Malhari_ was a military song, speaking of a recent victory. It was special because allegedly, when hearing that they had defeated the Empire in the Genian Rebellion, Ajit had sung that song and had danced madly to it; the song in the play mimicked that moment of celebration.

The largest spectacle of the night was what happened at the finale. A song from the film _Devdas_ was to be performed, which was a classic but also a favorite of Paro and her family. However, before the song was to begin, Paro was nowhere to be seen. Others in the audience were beginning to notice too, Ben able to feel their worry but no answers were given. At least, not until the music began. There, on the stage, performing the final song with another dancer, was Paro. She had changed out of her bold red sari with the piles of golden jewelry into a sari of light pink, her jewelry still large and plentiful but not nearly as much as before.

Ben was stunned as he watched her dance to _Dola Re Dola_ , his shock coming from not only from this being the first time he had ever seen her dance or ever heard her sing but also from not knowing that she had those talents. When the song came to a close, he was the one clapping the loudest.

“That was amazing!” Ben piped once he had found Paro backstage in a private dressing room, sitting at a vanity and removing the jewelry from her hair with the help from a handmaiden. “I didn’t know you could do that!”

“Well, you never asked.” Paro responded cheekily, taking off an earring and promptly grabbing a tissue to cover the earlobe.

“You okay?”

“I am. My ear is just bleeding a little.” She explained. “I guess I was a little too intense with my dancing.” The two chuckled at that. Eventually, Ben left the room so that Paro could change back into her original outfit.

With the performance finished, they returned to the palace, the entourage hoping to catch a few moments of relaxation before the lighting ceremony began. While Paro went off with Neerav to deal with kingdom business, Ben went back to the room, hoping to sleep a little. That eventually did occur but only after Reshani had coaxed him back into playing _Pachisi_. It was a short game, due to Reshani falling asleep and Ben fell asleep next to her not long after.

They were roused once the time came for the ceremony to start. Once more, the entourage headed out in palanquins, their destination: the waterfront, a quick peek through the curtains revealing three elaborate royal barges. As before, Reshani went into one barge with her grandmother and Neerav but this time, Ben joined Paro in her own barge, her other sisters going into the third.

“Are you ready?” Paro said once they floated out into the bay, the boatman bringing them to the middle of the bay smoothly and quickly.

“I’m not sure.” Ben answered honestly, leaning back against the pillows while taking a bite of _jaleebi._ “I’m not sure what to expect.”

“It’s very beautiful. You’ll see.”

They waited silently, watching as the sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon, leaving the sky twinkling with starlight. Nothing happened for a moment, but then, near the top of the temple, a flame was lit. Thousands and thousands of lights appeared on the shore, lighting the darkness. Then the water was filled with light, the light provided by countless diyas that were floated onto the vast expanse of the bay with the help of students from Paros’s Jedi order. As the oil lamps were spread across the water, fireworks of red and gold and green and white and purple flew into the air, bringing even more light to a world that had been dark only minutes ago.

Having rarely seen fireworks, Ben’s gaze was glued to the sky, the music in the background and the small diyas tapping against the idea of the bare barely registering in his mind. He was so captivated that he barely felt Paro tapping his shoulder. When he did look, she was smiling and holding up two lit diyas.

“Happy Deepavali.” She said to him, offering him one of the lit lamps.

Returning the smile, Ben took one of the lamps and together, they put them in the water, watching as they joined the other million lights; it was a sight like nothing he had ever seen before. Looking over it all, everything felt perfect and he felt as though the light had truly been victorious over the dark, forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: all the songs that were mentioned in this chapter are ones you can YouTube, if you’re looking for visuals. Would definitely recommend you watch the song from Devdas, as that movie is the reason Paro exists.
> 
> Come bug me on Tumblr: [petalouda85.tumblr.com](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been sooooo excited to write this chapter!!!!! Enjoy ;)

The bliss of a sleep without nightmares was one that was short lived. It had barely been a day since the Festival of Lights and already Ben’s nightmares had returned. It wasn’t the usual one, where he saw Rey and Obi-wan being consumed by flame. No, this one involved Paro.

They had been standing in a hallway in the palace, both of them wearing their respective uniform for sparring. They were talking to each other when massive creatures with scaly white skin and black eyes, wearing black armor attacked them. Their large size slowed their movement but they quickly overpowered the two of them, one grabbing Paro’s hair and lifting her up. The monster sneered, whispered something to her and shoved a syringe into the side of her neck, causing an ear piercing scream from Paro. The monster let her go and Ben, screaming her name, raced towards her, watching and holding his friend as life left her eyes.

That dream had terrified him more than any had before. The last two dreams that involved Paro had both become a reality, meaning this one could too. But, the creatures in his dream… he had never seen any race that looked like that. Perhaps they were just a figment of his imagination; if they were, then the nightmare couldn’t possibly come true.

Could it?

The thoughts plagued his mind, it causing him to not hear things when people spoke or to bump into things accidentally. Even sparring with Paro, tried as he did to concentrate, was difficult.

“Is something on your mind?” Paro inquired once they had finished their spar and were heading out of the Temple. Ben, fiddling with the sleeves of his shirt, tried to act nonchalant.

“What do you mean?”

“You seemed distracted during our spar.” She said. 

“I had a nightmare. That’s all.” He had probably said it harsher than he had intended but it had the desired effect: Paro didn’t say more on the topic. Silently, they headed for their respected palanquins and returned to the palace. The silence followed them further, going up the stairs and down the halls. He couldn’t take the silence but speaking of his nightmare was not something he wanted to do; he wanted to forget it had even happened. After a moment of pondering, he blurted out the first question that came to mind,

“Paro, have you ever had Force visions?” By now, they were strolling down one of the many long hallways on the upper floors of the palace, this one overlooking a section of the garden. Paro looked at him.

“Not until recently.” She answered, beginning to play with the end of her long braid. “How about you?”

“More than I care to count.” Ben answered, “What did you see in yours?”

“A child, maybe five years old.” She began, unconsciously undoing her braid. “She’s crying and begging her parents to save her. When I try to help her, I see a shadowed figure behind her who is reaching out to take her. I hear a man scream something to her and then I wake up.”

“Do you know who the girl is?”

“No, I have never seen her before but I felt a connection of sorts between her and me.”

“I’m guessing you will meet her in the future.”

“Maybe.” Paro stopped walking. “Just because I see it doesn’t mean it will become reality. The future is unpredictable and be changed by anything. Perhaps my walking down this hallway can mean the difference between me meeting this child and never meeting her; I will never know. I suppose the only thing I can know for certain is that, if there is a time when I meet, I will do all I can to save her.” They continued walking. “I normally don’t try to put all my focus on the future; I find myself getting caught in the whirlpool of ‘what if’. _Do not dwell on the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment._ ”

“ _Always in motion the future is_.” The two looked at each other and laughed.

“The wise words of our masters.” Paro chuckled. “Wise and not always clear.”

“I would say those particular words are clear.”

“True but I can imagine your master says things that don’t make any sense to you.”

“ _Do. Or do not. There is no try_.”

“Simple but not extremely confusing.”

“Yoda has a simple vocabulary.” Ben said, going to a bench and sitting down. “What does your master say?”

“ _There is no fire like passion, no crime like hatred, no sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger and no joy like the joy of freedom._ ”

“That sounds simple enough.”

“It is until you find out they are a complicated person. Do you have anymore?” Ben thought for a moment. When he found one, he left the bench and went onto his knees, pretending to hold a cane in his hand. Doing his best impression of his master, he said,

“ _Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?_ ”

Paro was laughing so much that she clutched her stomach.

“The best medicine, laughter is. Hmmmmm.” Ben continued, finding it difficult to contain his own laughter as Paro continued howling.

“That impression is too good.” She giggled, out of breath from laughing so much. Ben shrugged.

“Rey can do a better one.” He responded, rising to his feet. “Sometimes, during our free time, we would sit around doing impressions of all the Masters.”

“Including your uncle?”

“Including my uncle.”

“And you didn’t get into trouble for that? For being frivolous?”

“Only a little.” Paro giggled at that response, only for it to end when someone behind her spoke.

“Jaya?”

The two turned, Ben recognizing the man he had seen a few days ago trying to buy a bracelet for the young girl he had with him. The child was with him now, as well as another man, who also seemed in awe to see Paro. Paro however, had her gaze locked on the younger man.

“Nikolai?” Paro said, her tone carrying the same amount of disbelief as the man’s question had. She quickly regained her composure and turned to Ben. “Excuse me for a moment.” She walked past Nikolai, signaling him to follow her.

Nikolai quickly said something in another language to the child and his companion and followed Paro. The two didn’t go far but far enough that Ben couldn’t hear what was being said.

\---

Briskly, Paro walked away from Ben, feelings of surprise and shock rampaging in her as Nikolai followed her. She didn’t look at him, the daze of seeing him still to potent, the fact that Muzumdar hadn’t mentioned anything about any merchant coming to the palace to make dealings making this situation even more confusing and baffling. Once at a decent range from the people they left behind, Paro turned, facing the equally surprised man.

“Why are you here?” She asked softly. Immediately, she felt hesitancy and fear within him.

“Jaya-“ He paused. He took a step back and bowed his head before continuing, “Milady. I am here to receive payment from the Grand Vizier… as hired guard.”

“You’re a mercenary?” She exclaimed, letting out a gasp when Nikolai nodded. She scolded herself a little; she should’ve noticed that any merchant wouldn’t look as disheveled as he did when they met a few days ago. Then again, she had been the one to suggest “merchant” as his profession. “Then it seems we were both hiding something.”

“What do you mean? Are you handmaiden? Noble?”

“I am the Queen.”

“You-“ Nikolai gasped, his disbelief even greater than it had been moments ago. “I suppose that makes us even… Your Majesty” He eventually managed to say, it eliciting a weak chuckle from Paro.

“I suppose it does. And please, don’t call me that. My name is just fine.”

“Alright, Jaya.”

“Paro. My name is Paro.”

“Paro.” They stood silently, staring at each other while they processed the information that was revealed. “So, you are Queen of Ge? Who would have thought that Jaya from market would be Queen of the planet? I never would have guessed it.”

“I don’t blame you; the last thing anyone expects to see is the Queen walking around a market, pretending to be a commoner.”

“What were you doing there?” Nikolai inquired, moving to lean against a nearby column, Paro noting a quick glance over to where Yelena was. Once seeing that she was alright, his gaze returned to her.

“Getting away from my life. Trying to get a sense of what it feels like to be normal and not have special treatment because of a pretty title.”

“Yet another thing in common.” He said softly, though loud enough that Paro could hear.

“Really?” Nikolai gave a small nod, yet remained silent. Paro wanted to ask what he had meant but before she could, his head perked up, gazing at an inconspicuous window nearby. He grabbed his blaster. “Nikolai?”

“Something is not right.”

\---

Though he was curious to know what was transpiring between Paro and Nikolai, Ben stayed behind with Yelena and the other man. The older man kept his gaze on the pair while Yelena began to entertain herself with a nearby plant. The teen wanted to ask the elder man if he knew what was happening but it was obvious that he cared little that Ben was there. Neither did it seem that he even cared for the child that was near; Ben made sure to keep an eye on her.

Watching Paro and Nikolai did little to help him guess what they were speaking about but, judging by their body language, it was obvious that they had met before and were having a rather casual conversation; he was curious how they had met, considering it was just as obvious that Nikolai was on the opposite side of the social scale and Genian upper class weren’t exactly known to mingle with people of the lower class, though he could hardly call Paro a typical upper class woman.

The two talked for a few minutes, it staying on the same casual tone, though that quickly changed when Nikolai suddenly pulled forth a blaster.

Within a moment, Ben was pacing to the two, his hand on the hilt of his lightsaber. As he approached, Ben half expected the man to attack Paro but it didn’t take long to see that his gaze glued to the window. As the other mercenary joined Nikolai after he had called out to him, Ben came to stand next to Paro, who had also drawn her lightsabers. The two exchanged a glance, not knowing what it was that had gotten Nikolai to draw his weapon. Heart pounding in his throat, Ben watched as Nikolai carefully approached the window.

The next few moments passed so quickly that Ben couldn’t comprehend it right away. Faster than a flash, Nikolai reached out the window and yanked someone into the hallway, throwing them to the floor and pointing his blaster at them. When Ben saw who the person was, his heart stopped: it was one of the creatures that had appeared in his nightmare.

“You!” Paro shouted, activating her sabers and pointing it at the creature’s face, basking their scaly white skin in a purple glow. “How did you get onto my planet!?”

“You need to find better friends, _Wiavch_.”

“Paro, you need to leave. Now!” Ben said, his heart hammering in fear.

“What do you mean?” Paro asked.

“Meaning you won’t live to see the end of this day.” The creature snatched a small device from his belt and clicked a button on it. Only a short distance away, a section of the ceiling collapsed, ten more creatures jumping into sight, bloodlust in their eyes. Two of them broke away from the group and headed the person nearest to them: Yelena.

“YELENA!” Nikolai screamed, dashing to the child, who ran just as fast to him.

“Paro, stay close.” Ben shouted as he activated his saber, relieved when Yelena managed to reach Nikolai as the man shot and killed a creature with a quick aim to his head. As the child began to run away from the danger at Nikolai’s urging, the four left behind engaged the creatures.

This was like nothing Ben had ever trained for. When sparring, even with lightsabers, his opponent never had the intent to kill; if they had a swing that would’ve killed him, they would’ve stopped before they could hit him. But the creatures were trying to kill him. He tried to remember his training, tried to remember how to defend and strike but he was scared and the fear made his movements sloppy and he missed more than he hit.

Luck was on his side initially as the creature failed to hit him, Ben’s smaller stature allowing him to dodge the slower movements of the massive creature in front of him. But as always, his luck didn’t last and a hard slap from his assailant sent Ben to the ground, his saber falling away from him.

“BEN!” Paro shouted, throwing him one of her own sabers. He caught it and turned it on, the purple blade piercing through the creature’s stomach. As their lifeless body fell, Ben scrambled up, calling his own weapon to him and ran to his friend.

“You okay?” He asked, quickly examining the chaos around them; only six of the creatures remained.

“Never better.” She panted.

Two of the creatures approached them, their weapons at the ready. The battle was a blur but Ben was able to focus now, moving gracefully in sync with Paro as they fought the creatures. Soon, only four of the creatures remained, two focused on Paro and Ben while the other two aimed for the mercenaries.

“ _We might win this_.” Ben thought gleefully, disposing another creature with relative ease and then turning to the creature that was attacking Paro.

Then, there was a scream.

Ben looked up and saw the elder mercenary kneeling in front of a creature, a vibroblade pierced through his heart. In that one second glance, Ben failed to notice the creature in front of him swing his arm out, sending the teen prince flying into a nearby pillar. For a moment, the world went dark but he could still hear. He could hear Paro grunt, hear the creature laughing and the sound of lightsabers deactivating. Forcing his eyes open, Ben saw the faint silhouette of his friend in his blurred vision, the creature lifting her up.

“The Imperator sends his regards.” He heard the creature sneer.

Then Paro screamed.

The creature dropped her, her silhouette falling to the ground in a lifeless heap.

“No…” Ben mumbled, shakily moving to sit up, only to fall back down due to the dizziness and agonizing pain in his head. He thought he saw the silhouette of the creature disappear but he didn’t care; all he saw was Paro on the ground, letting out grunts of extreme pain. “Paro…” He forced himself onto his hands and knees, his head protesting against the sudden movement. Crawling, he reached her, the chaos around him fading into the background.

She was writhing in pain, a wild and panicked look in her eyes as she struggled to breathe. He quickly gathered her up in his arms but he didn’t know how that would help. He didn’t know what to do.

“Ben…” He heard her whisper, a small trail of blood and foam coming out of the corner of her mouth.

“Boy!” Snapping his head up, Ben saw Nikolai stumbling towards them, holding a blood covered hand on his stomach. With a grunt, the mercenary fell next to them, snapping a necklace off of his neck. Attached was a small bottle. He quickly yanked open the bottle and dumped the content into Paro’s mouth.

“What are you doing?!” Ben demanded, fighting to keep tears at bay. Nikolai grabbed an item off the floor and held it up, Ben recognizing it as the syringe from his nightmares.

“Poison. Go!” Nikolai snapped at him. “Get her to medbay; what I give will not last long. GO!”

Frantically, Ben got to his feet, carrying his dying friend in his arms. Once up, he ran, looking only ahead as his head pounded in protest. A grunt of pain from Paro made him look down, watching as his friend closed her eyes, her breathing seeming to stop.

“ _Please_.” He begged silently, tears blurring his vision more. “ _Please, don’t take her_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before any of you guys point it out, I know there are grammar mistakes in Nikolai’s dialogue. They were put in there on purpose to showcase that he doesn’t know Basic very well. 
> 
> And it’s been ages since I’ve written a fight scene so forgive the rustiness of it all. 
> 
> Come bug me on Tumblr: [petalouda85.tumblr.com](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com)


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still upholding my mini resolution :D

 

“It seems that you don’t have as much venom as you would like us to believe, Snake.” The Imperialist said as he watched the Genian stare intensely into a floating orb, the object showing images of the Alderaan prince carrying the Genian queen to the medbay. Upon hearing the Imperialist’s voice, the Genian waved the orb away.

“And you are not as efficient as you want us to believe either, _Commandant_.” The Genian snapped back, smirking when he saw the man flinch the slightest at his words. “It must be so difficult, tracking down children.”

“And it must be so difficult for you to kill a child, considering it was _so_ easy for you to murder three others in her family.” The Genian lifted his hand, holding it in a manner similar to the force choke hold, when Snoke spoke.

“Enough!” The old Sith shouted. “Bickering will not be advantageous to us. And regardless of failure, our Snake has done his duty, Commandant, unlike you.”

“Supreme Leader-“

“Silence! I told you to find those boys months ago and you have not managed to find any clue to their whereabouts. You’ve disappointed me many times, Commandant; fail once more and I will replace you with someone more competent.” He glared at the man below him, a small smirk on his face when the Commandant nodded. “Good. Now, get out!”

“What is to be done about the Queen?” The Genian asked once the Commandant had left the room.

“She will survive the poison and it will leave her crippled. And you will have another opportunity to kill her. At this moment: whether she lives or dies, it is of no consequence; it has brought my apprentice closer to me.”

\-----

It took Ben a few moments to comprehend where he was. In the blur of his vision, all he saw was white and lights, the brightness of it all making his head hurt even more. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the light while the voices of people and droids murmured in the background, too far to know what was said.

The blinking had helped a little, his vision less blurry though only slightly less sensitive to the brightness. Turning his head away, he discovered he was in the medbay, droids and doctors walking to and fro. He attempted to sit up, a piercing pain rampaging in his head in protest.

“Careful, Ben. Careful.” Neelam said softly, warm hands gently pushing the teen back onto the bed. “You must be careful; you have a concussion.”

“Where’s Paro?” Ben mumbled. Neelam looked over their shoulder to a nearby bed Ben had failed to spot earlier. Following their gaze, he saw his friend, her eyes closed, a breathing mask over her mouth and tubes attached to her arm, connecting to a machine situated next to her bed.

“She’s alright.” Neelam assured when he saw the panicked look on Ben’s face, “She’s fine.”

But the words did nothing to calm the teen. He was shaking, hyperventilating and he suddenly felt extremely nauseous, the feeling making him sit up rapidly, adding an even sharper pain to his head. Neelam must’ve called for someone as a medical staff member came up to him, a syringe in their hand. A small scream escaped his throat at the sting of the needle and quickly, he felt woozy and his breathe soon returned to a more controllable state. He felt hands on him, trying to push him back onto the bed but the nausea made him resist the push. Only after he had emptied the content of his stomach into a bucket did he allow himself to lay down and fall back asleep.

When he woke up for the second time, he felt better, if only in the sense that he wasn’t nauseous anymore and the pain in his head had lessened. He spotted fewer people in the dimmed room so he discerned that he must’ve slept for a few hours. Neelam was still in the room, seated on a chair next to his bed and keeping themselves occupied with a pad. But when they noticed Ben was awake, they put the pad away and came closer.

“How are you feeling?” They asked softly.

“How long was I sleeping?” Ben responded softly, his voice hoarse.

“Almost half a day. Do you feel nauseous at all?” Ben shook his head, which made Neelam smile. “What do you remember?”

“I remember… the attack… the creatures… Paro being poisoned but nothing else. How did I get here?”

“You walked here” Neelam began, “and you had Paro with you; you screamed for help and after the staff took Paro, you had a panic attack; the staff had to sedate you.”

“Is Paro okay?”

“She is. The doctors were able to remove the toxins from her body; they’re just waiting for her to wake up.” The two immediately glanced over at Paro, still resting on the bed, the mask present but the machine from before gone. If one were to ignore the fact of how she had ended up in that state, she looked as though she were sleeping.

“The creatures…” Ben said after a few moments, his gaze still on his friend while Neelam focused on him. “Who were they?”

As explained by Neelam, the creatures were a race called Kraal, who lived on the planet nearest to the Genian sun. The Kraal and the Genians had had a long, bloody history together, including several civil wars. For the longest time, they had been dormant on their home planet but in more recent years, there had been more excursions – both direct and indirect - between the two people, the hatred reinvigorated by the leader of the Kraal, a man nicknamed “the Imperator”. Of these excursions, one had led to the death of the previous King.

One night, Ajit and Neerav were in the council room, speaking to each other about politics while sipping on wine. Within minutes of the first sip, the two displayed the common symptoms of Clyzon poisoning, namely shortness of breath, intense pain, bleeding from the mouth and foaming at the mouth. Ajit had died within minutes and Neerav miraculously survived, though he was left with chronic pain and paralysis on the left side of the body. While the Kraal never claimed responsibility, the usage of Clyzon was more than enough to conclude that they were responsible as the poison was readily available on their planet.

“Paro will have side effects from the poison but it’s impossible to say which one.”

“But she’ll live?” Ben asked; he was certain that Neelam had said multiple times already that Paro was alright but he couldn’t get himself to believe it. Having seen the state of her when poisoned, it seemed almost impossible that she could survive.

“She will, thanks to you and Nikolai; after the doctors had treated her, they told me that a few more minutes and Paro would’ve been beyond healing.” Ben wasn’t certain if that was supposed to make him feel better. It was then he noticed Neelam wiping their eyes; they were crying. “Forgive me.” They said when they realized Ben had seen their tears. “Paro means a lot to me.”

Not much was said between them afterwards, mostly likely because Ben fell asleep again. Upon waking, the room was once more ablaze with light and he saw more people and droids in the room. Neelam was still seated faithfully by his side, looking as though they had stayed awake the entire night. However, they didn’t let their exhaustion show as they were up on their feet the instant they noticed Ben was awake. They doted over him, asking him if he was in pain or felt nauseous again; it reminded Ben of how his mother was whenever he was sick or was injured.

A medic quickly interrupted Neelam and proceeded to do their own checkup. Physically, he only had a concussion and some bruising on various spots on his body. However, the medic conveyed concerns for his mental state, considering he had been near delirious due to anxiety stemming from seeing Paro poisoned and from experiencing a battle and had a second panic attack shortly after being sedated the first time. Granted, there seemed to be an improvement, albeit small, but the staff worried about long term mental illness. At the end, they told Ben that he was free to go but advised him that, if he felt anything that could lead to an attack, that he should return to the medbay.

Ben didn’t leave. Instead, he took a seat next to Paro’s bed. Her breathing mask was gone now but she was still unconscious, the machine next to her telling him her heartbeat, even if it did little to assure him.

“How is she?” Ben and Neelam turned and saw Nikolai in the doorway, Yelena in his arms. Though Ben clearly remembered that the man had been injured during the fight, Nikolai looked to be in perfect health.

“She is fine.” Neelam assured as the man came closer. “The doctors are just waiting for her to wake up.”

“How long will it be?” Nikolai inquired, grabbing a vacant chair and setting it next to where Ben was seated.

“A few hours, a few days. It’s difficult to guess.” In response, Nikolai only nodded before turning his gaze to Paro, concern written all over his face while Yelena proceeded to play with his hair. Ben didn’t even need to look into the man’s mind to know how concerned he was. It led to a lot of questions for Ben, including how the two had even met in the first place. He wanted to ask but it wasn’t the time or the place to do so.

“Thank you.” Ben said after several minutes of silence. The mercenary turned to look at Ben.

“What for?”

“For saving Paro’s life. Whatever that antidote was that you gave her, it saved her.”

“You’re welcome but that drink is not antidote.” Nikolai responded.

“Then what is it?”

“Is a drink that slows down effects of poison. Is not antidote, as I said, but it gives you time to get help.” The man explained.

“Sounds like a handy thing to have with you.”

“Very handy.” And the silence followed once more, the only noise coming from the machines and from random words from Yelena to Nikolai. The mercenary mostly kept his gaze on the sleeping woman, no doubt looking for some sign that she was waking up. “Is unnerving, is it not?” Nikolai suddenly said, “Seeing her sleep like this, not knowing when she will wake up.”

“It is a little bit.” Ben agreed, thinking about how the context of how she had ended up like that made it even more unnerving.

“She look like… like… _Spyashchaya Krasavitsa_.” Ben looked at Nikolai in confusion.

“Who?” The mercenary let out a chuckle.

“I don’t know her name in Basic. It is the name of maiden who is cursed to sleep for long time.”

“Sleeping Beauty?” Ben posited.

“I think that is the one.”

Yelena promptly interrupted whatever would’ve been said next, speaking to Nikolai in their language. The child eventually pointed at the older man, who immediately looked shocked and slightly embarrassed before he responded, his tone a little harsher than before as the child giggled.

“What did she say?” Ben asked once Yelena had stopped giggling.

“I told her what we said and she told me that I should kiss Paro to wake her up.” Ben couldn’t help but laugh at that and soon Nikolai was chuckling alongside him. Their laughter subsided when they heard commotion in the other room, the doorway quickly occupied by Sarika. She looked furious.

“You!” She snapped, pacing to Nikolai. The man quickly rose to his feet, having put Yelena down and making sure to stand between her and the elder woman. “How dare you be near my granddaughter!?” She slapped him hard across his face before shouting at the guards that had stayed behind and watched. The soldiers came closer but were soon blocked from entering by Neelam and a doctor.

“What is going on?” Neerav shouted, forcing himself past the soldiers, the doctor and Neelam.

“I want that scum arrested!” Sarika hollered at the Vizier, pointing towards the mercenary.

“For what?” Ben inquired, standing from his chair and moving to stand between Nikolai and Sarika, hiding a gulp when Sarika glared at him, her stare more intense and filled with more hatred than he had ever seen.

“For smuggling those beasts onto my planet and trying to murder my granddaughter!”

“Murder!? He saved her life! If he hadn’t given her that potion, she would’ve been dead!”

“Thank him?” Sarika sneered at him. “You want me to thank him?! I will be dead before I thank scum as low as him! That filth is not worthy of my thanks. If anything, he should be thanking me. He should be grateful that I haven’t tossed him and his brat to the streets like they deserve.”

“ _Badi-Ma_ , enough!” The room fell silent as everyone turned to look at the bed, where Paro was slowly sitting up. “Enough.”

Ben immediately turned away from Sarika to help his friend sit up, noting that she was shaking slightly and was panting, as if the act of sitting up alone had taken all the strength and energy she had. Sarika appeared by Paro’s bed, pushing Nikolai and Ben out of the way.

“Parvati…” Sarika said softly, gasping when Paro yanked her arm away from Sarika’s touch.

“Get out.” Paro said softly, anger in her voice.

“Paro-“

“I SAID GET OUT!” Paro’s shout scared everyone into silence, Sarika staring in disbelief before Neerav placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered something to her. As the Grand Vizier led the elder woman out of the room, Ben, Nikolai and a doctor returned to Paro, the doctor checking the Queen’s vitals and asking the standard questions.

“Paro…” Ben said softly once the doctor had left, any words silenced when Paro grabbed his arm.

“Ben… why are the lights off?” Paro asked. The question made Ben frown, considering all the lights were turned on. “The lights… where are the lights?” Paro slowly stepped out of the bed, Ben remaining close in case she fell. Carefully, she moved, her hands reached out in front of her as if searching for something. When she tripped on the leg of the bed, Ben, as well as Neelam and Nikolai, were quickly by her side to catch her, the look exchanged between the three telling Ben they all knew what the poison had taken: it had taken Paro’s sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy... Paro and Sarika's relationship is going downhill
> 
> Come bug me on Tumblr: [petalouda85.tumblr.com](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I ended up writing a rough outline for where the next few chapters are going to go and looking at those notes, I’m estimating this story will be between 25 to 30 chapters long; we’re around the halfway point. In addition to that, there will be a few deleted scenes posted somewhere in the future (there are currently three being written) as well as a few aesthetic posts (these posts will be posted on my Tumblr but I will link them here when they’re up)  
> Enjoy :D

“How is Paro?” The sudden question from Kiran snapped Ben out of his almost hypnotic thoughts. He scrambled for an answer as the Genian Padawan seated herself next to him.

He wished he could give her a happier answer.

Since Paro had woken up, she had been acting… different, almost as if she were trying to live her life and do her usual routine as if she hadn’t been at death’s door and lost her sight only days ago. She spent a great deal of her free time in her room, sitting quietly and snapping mean remarks whenever anyone tried to help her in any way, be it to pick out jewelry or help her to another point in the palace. She had even refused help from Neelam, at one point yelling at them to get out when they persisted.

Even Paro’s family wasn’t immune; Sarika wasn’t even allowed to enter Paro’s room anymore and nothing Neela said in an attempt to diffuse the tension between the two or to convince her sister to accept any form of help had been successful. The only person who had had any success thus far was Neerav but his progress was minor (he had managed to convince Paro to let him read state documents to her out loud).

Even her control of the Force had wavered.

Ben hadn’t attempted to help her yet but only because he didn’t want to try without a solid plan. Barging in and trying to convince her without preparation seemed the best route to be screamed at. He had spent a great deal of time at the Temple, hoping that meditation would give him a scrap of an idea as to how to help his friend but hours of meditating had brought him no closer to an answer. He had been sitting in the courtyard, watching the other Padawans spar when Kiran had joined him.

“To be honest, not good. She doesn’t want help from anyone.” Ben answered after the two had sat quietly for several minutes. Kiran chuckled beside him.

“Classic Paro: headstrong and incredibly stubborn. But I don’t blame her; it’s quite a change and she has to adjust. No doubt she’s scared she’ll be dependent on everyone now and that people will take advantage of her.”

“I don’t want her to be dependent. I know she’s fully capable of doing anything, blind or not; I just wish she could realize that asking help is not a bad thing and that she could see her own capability, even without her sight.”

“To see without sight; a true question for the Jedi.”

“To see without sight…” Ben mumbled, the phrase resurfacing a memory of something Kiran had told him. “Kiran, remember the first time I came here, you told me the ultimate goal of your order was to become a Bendu?”

“Yes, I remember.” Kiran said, her frown signalling slight confusion.

“You then told me a myth of a Bendu that was so powerful that they could defeat a host of enemies with their eyes closed, relying on the Force to be their eyes.” Kiran’s face lid up as realization dawned on her.

“I can give you a story better than that one. There is another myth about a Bendu named Sarasvati. She was the most powerful one that ever existed; her balance and control were like nothing that was ever seen before. She had a rival named Harashada, who was so jealous of her power that she blinded Sarasvati in a rage. The same confrontation lead to a battle that Sarasvati won. According to the texts, she utilized an ancient technique where she could see figures in front of her and sense their positions using the Force; it is described as seeing with regular eyes.”

“Do you know how to do this technique?” Ben asked eagerly, hope rising with the knowledge that he had found a way to help his friend.

“Not quite. The Sarasvati’s technique was never recorded but there are some minor descriptions in the texts and it’s likely that are there are more detailed descriptions of the technique the other Bendu used. If we could find these, we could utilize it to help Paro.”

“For Paro’s sake, we need to try.”

At the revelation, Kiran and Ben didn’t remain in the training yard for long; they quickly made their way to the hall of texts in the Temple, hoping to find the documentation on the technique. Though the Genian Jedi’s lore was younger than that of Ben’s Jedi Order, the texts were much more plentiful. Not certain where to start, the two started on opposite ends, grabbing the books and scrolls that looked the most like it would contain what they were looking for. Most of the books contained nothing of use and a pile quickly began collecting on a nearby chair, the caretaker glaring at them for their rather careless organizing; they ignored the elder man.

In three hours of searching, they had found plenty of references to Sarasvati and the technique but nothing concrete on how to perform it. Frustrated, Ben decided to do research into the other Bendu that had performed a similar technique while Kiran continued to research Sarasvati; granted his research was slower, due to him having to use a translator, but the chances of finding what they were looking for were likely higher now than they were before.

After another hour of research, they found their most reliable description of the technique. Written by someone who claimed to be a student of the Bendu, it outlined the basics of the technique. It involved one individual having to locate another individual among ten or more other people while simultaneously having to spar. The one in the center would be blindfolded, inhale an hallucinogenic drug that would distort their connection to the Force and other senses and had to locate and identify their target using what limited connection they had while the other individuals would try to confuse and hinder them in whatever way they could.

Once they had thoroughly read through the technique, the two formulated a plan to get Paro to participate in it. Knowing she was likely to stubbornly refuse to go to the Temple, they opted the best spot to do it would be in the palace itself; there were plenty of larger rooms and the other Padawans and Knights had relative ease of access to the palace. The hallucinogenic drug mentioned was procured from a red flower named a cane rose, which could easily be bought and treated for the technique.

That was the easy part.

The most difficult part would be left to Ben: convincing Paro to come with him and perform the technique. In retrospect, it shouldn’t be too difficult, but judging on Paro’s previous reactions to help, there ran a high chance that the Queen would just yell at him and refuse to go anywhere.

Such thoughts on the forefront of his mind caused him to just stand outside the door to Paro’s room, almost hesitant to knock. It took several breaths of courage and a reminder of why he was here for him to eventually knock. After a few moments of silence, he heard Paro respond to him.

Opening the door, he immediately noticed her kneeling in front of a small altar dedicated to her deceased parents and younger brother. She was wearing a mismatched lehenga and choli, her long black hair out of its usual braid and slightly messy and her jewelry nowhere to be seen. In her hand, she had a small stuffed animal, which she told him had once belonged to her brother. She didn’t move when he came in but she was obviously aware that he had entered.

“You took your time.” She said, her voice sharp yet weary. Slowly, Ben came to sit next to her at the altar.

“I figured that you didn’t want to be bothered.”

“Not necessarily. I just don’t want to be bothered by constant coddling and that’s the only thing everyone has been doing.” Slowly and with extra care, she reached forward to the altar to find the vacant spot for the stuffed animal. It took a moment but she found it, placing the animal down gently. From there, she stood up, Ben following suit, and went to her bed slowly, the Alderaan prince remaining slightly behind her. “You’re obviously not here for small talk,” she said as she seated herself on her grand bed, “so please, just tell me why you’re here.” He should’ve anticipated her blunt tone but he was still taken slightly aback by it.

“Why do you think I’m here?”

“To try to convince me to accept the help of other people?” Paro posited.  

“Not entirely.” Ben responded, seating himself next to her. “I want you to go back to the old Paro. The one that doesn’t yell at everyone when they try to help you with something.”

“I know. This whole thing is so… frustrating and everyone is treating me like I’m suddenly made of glass and incapable of doing anything myself. My handmaidens literally tried to dress me, do every tie and put on every bracelet like I had lost the ability to move; I can’t see, I’m not paraplegic. They treat me like I’m incapable of doing anything on my own; I’m not incapable.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“No, I don’t. I know you don’t. Just-” she let out a sigh of frustration, letting herself fall back onto the bed. “This is all such a mess. My family and handmaidens want to coddle me, the nobles and councillors and every other political figure will try to take advantage of this and no doubt my uncle and cousin will try to discredit my right to rule even more.”

“Then prove them wrong.”

“Don’t worry, I intent to. I’m just not certain how yet.”

“I might have something to help you get started.” Hearing this, Paro turned her head and looked at him.

“What?”

“You’ll see, just trust me.”

A few moments passed before Paro sat up, lifting her hand up to Ben. The Prince looked at the hand in surprise, awed that she was accepting his help, before he took it. Silently, he led her out of the room and headed towards the room where Kiran and the others were waiting. He walked slower than he normally did, not wanting to scare Paro by just dragging her along.

Soon, they arrived at the meeting point, Ben not letting go of Paro until they were a few steps in. As Kiran closed the door behind them, Ben began to speak.

“I know that, since the incident, your connection to the Force has been wavering. I did some research in the Temple and I found something I’d like you to try. You know the story of Sarasvati, right?” Paro nodded. “I found a technique that is supposed to allow one to see the way she did.”

“You think this technique will somehow give me back my sight?” Paro asked, her skepticism easily heard in her voice.

“Maybe not in the literal sense but if these Bendus could use the Force to sense their environment and the people within it to the point of it being like seeing with your eyes, then you can too.” He took her hand again and led her to the middle of the room, letting her stand alone as the other Padawans and Knights took their positions. As Kiran prepared the drug, Ben explained the technique to his friend.

“You’re asking a lot of me Ben.” Paro responded once Ben had finished explaining.

“I know.” Ben said, taking the bowl from Kiran, the red flower half burnt and smoking within it. He placed the bowl in Paro’s hands. “But what do you have to lose?” After a moment of silence, Paro began inhaling the smoke. As she did, Ben took several steps back, mixing in with the others present as the hallucinogen began to distort the Force within Paro. Once the drug had taken effect, another Padawan took the bowl away and handed Paro her lightsabers. Turning on his saber in time with everyone else, Ben said through the Force, “ _Find me_.”

Paro was struggling, that was obvious. Her sensitivity and senses inhibited, she barely moved from her spot and only reacted to sounds of sabers that were near. Furthermore, whenever someone swung their saber at her, she either failed to parry or parried sloppily; she was obviously relying heavily on her hearing abilities rather than the Force.

“Come on, Paro. Focus.” Ben whispered to himself when she failed to parry another swing. It obviously frustrated her, judging by her frown and the intense feeling of sadness he felt within her. In anger, she swung one of her sabers randomly, causing a Padawan to dodge the fiery purple blade; it slammed against the floor, leaving behind a black burn mark.

“Focus.” Ben projected, only moments before the saber deactivated and the handle fell from her hand, clattering loudly to the floor. The other saber soon followed, the others present looking uncertain at one another when the distinct sound of a sob emanated through the room.

“I can’t do this.” Paro whispered loudly.

Ben was quick to her side, taking his friend into his arms while she cried into his shoulder, clinging onto him tightly.

“It’s okay.” He whispered, glancing over at Kiran, wondering if he had gone too far in making Paro do this.

She cried for several minutes, no doubt the frustrations of the last few days pouring out of her, while keeping her tight hold on her friend.

“Do you want to stop?” Ben eventually asked once she had stopped crying.

“I don’t know.” She croaked softly. “I don’t know.”

“I think you should try again. But… let’s try it differently.”

“Different how?” Paro asked, stepping away from Ben, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Well…” Ben began, his mind racing with thoughts of the potential changes to make, “no flowers to make you hallucinate or dull your senses. Fewer people. And try it with your shoes off.”

“What?” Kiran asked, surprised by the suggestion.

“I’ve read that being barefooted allows for a better connection to the Force. Also, doesn’t your meditating routine usually involve being barefooted?’”

“Fair point.”

As a few of the Padawans moved to the side, Paro removed her sandals, tossing them to the side and reached down to find her sabers, which were quickly handed to her by Ben.

“You can do this.” Ben whispered to her. After she gave a small nod, Ben stepped away and took a random spot in the room, activating his saber at the same moment as everyone else. “Find me, Paro. You can do this.”

Initially it seemed that Paro was once again relying heavily on her hearing abilities due to her remaining in her starting spot and some sloppy parries. However, as they continued, she cautiously began to move, taking a few steps ahead while listening carefully for any sound that would indicate movement. She must’ve heard something as she swung out to her left and parried one of the Knights still present. This lead to a mini spar of only a few hits, before Paro turned away, on the hunt for Ben. She took a few more steps, the steps small and still cautious. When another Knight threw a small stone in a random direction, she immediately turned to the noise, though she was quick to swing her sabers around and face the Padawan that had snuck up behind her, blocking their swing.

Ben and Kiran exchanged a look; their plan appeared to be working.

Slowly, Ben began to move from his spot, careful to remain as quiet as possible while he kept a close eye on Paro and her behaviour. She was standing stalk still, likely trying to catch whatever noise she heard. She stood still like that for a few moments when she knelt to the ground, the move coming so suddenly that Ben thought for a tenth of a second that she was collapsing in frustration as she previously had. He had taken one step forward at that thought when he realized she had placed her hand flat on the floor, her eyes closed and her breathing slow and calm. When he felt a mini prod in his mind, Ben smiled and raised his saber. He noticed Paro was smiling too.

“I know where you are, Benjamin Solo.” She whispered, slowly rising to her feet and raising her sabers.

Ben had barely blinked and Paro was charging towards him, sabers ready to strike. The spar they had was reminiscent of the one they had had only days ago; if it weren’t for the fact that Paro’s moves were sloppier than normal and that she occasionally swung into thin air, it felt the same as that spar. Ben fought back as he had during that spar, though this time, he was more careful to not hit Paro whenever she missed him or misaimed. No doubt she was aware of this as she suddenly made a quick move that ended up with one of her sabers at his throat.

“Found you.”

“You did.” The two turned off their sabers. As soon as they were off, Paro’s knees buckled, though Ben was quick to catch her.

“You alright?” Kiran asked, having rushed over when Paro fell.

“I’m alright.” Paro answered. “I’m just tired.”

“Why don’t you help her back to her room so she can rest? I’ll take care of things here.” Kiran offered, to which both Paro and Ben nodded.

As they walked back to her room, Paro began to lean less and less against Ben, though she still held onto him, perhaps fearful the surge of strength would leave her suddenly. They thankfully made it to her room without incident and Ben was relieved to see none of Paro’s handmaidens were in the room.

Once inside, Paro let go of Ben and slowly moved towards her bed but, instead of lying down, she only sat on it.

“Are you alright?” Ben eventually asked when they both had been quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time.

“I am.” Paro said softly, though her hunched in posture told him otherwise.

“You’re not. Something’s bothering you; I can see it.” Paro remained silent for a moment but then motioned for Ben to sit next to her. Even after he had seated himself, she remained quiet, clearly uncertain of to say what she wanted to say.

“This is not about what just happened.” She began. “I’m grateful you did it. This is something I’ve been thinking about since the Kraal attacked us. I saw one of them throw you into the pillar and I thought that you were dead because you were so still. I’ve lost so many people I care about. My father, my mother, my brothers. I’ve lost my uncle and my cousin due to squabbles started by my father. I’ve almost lost Neerav and that was almost unbearable. I’ve almost lost Reshani and that was unbearable. If I lost you…. It would destroy me.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “You’re my best friend, Ben. You understand me, all of me. You know what it’s like to have so much expected of you, to have the galaxy put on your shoulders, you understand the Force and what it gives. But you also understand what the Force takes. It can bring you peace but you’re trapped inside your own head, torn apart by the temptations of the dark and the offers of the light and having no one to understand your pain. I desire balance but I have no balance in my life because no one understands. No one sees me. Everyone sees the Queen, the prodigy of the Bendu, the daughter of Ajit Bachchan, the last victim of the Empire. No one sees Paro. No one but you. You make me feel like what I’d imagine I’d feel if I was just a normal Genian girl, living a normal life. I don’t want to lose that feeling. Ever.”

Ben wasn’t certain how to respond. He was touched, extremely so, by her words but no words he thought of would ever come close to the sincerity she had displayed and no words would ever be enough to thank her for them. He could only think of one thing that could possibly summarize everything he felt within him but before he could even rationalize or have a thought that it wasn’t the right course of action, Ben had leaned forward and pressed the smallest of kisses on Paro’s lips.

Once he pulled away, his cheeks flared a bold red, feeling a sense of shame and embarrassment growing within him, Paro’s light gasp and subsequent silence not helping in any manner.

“I… um…” He stuttered. “I’m sorry.” He quickly leapt up and left the room, not stopping until he was back in his own room and the door was locked behind him. Leaning against it, he slid down to the floor, hugging his knees to his chest.

Why did he do that? Why didn’t he do what any same person would’ve done and said thank you or make a promise that she would never lose him? Why did he kiss her? For a split second, it had felt right and he had felt a flutter in his stomach but that had quickly dissipated towards a sense of disgust towards his action. Why did he do that to Paro?

“You know why, my child.” A soft voice said. Upon looking up, Ben found himself looking at the creature in black he had seen on his 10th birthday and in his dreams. His room had disappeared around him, a black void taking its place, the darkness feeling oddly warm.

Keeping an eye on the creature, Ben rose to his feet.

“Who are you?” Ben asked. The creature smiled at him.

“That’s not important right now.” He responded, his voice still soft and strangely welcoming. “You’re confused. About your friend. Why?” At the question, Ben looked down at his feet.

“I don’t know.”

“You know as well as I what the source of your conflicted feelings are: the predictions made at your birth.”

“You know about them?” Ben asked, listening curiously.

“I was there when they were made. Yoda foretold you would meet your true love when you were 10 and that you would marry them when you are 18.” The creature chuckled slightly. “Poor Ben. So much pressure to find this one person and when an opportunity arrives, it was not right. It is sad, isn’t it? So much riding on you finding this one person. How different everything would’ve been if your life wasn’t planned and under the control of others since the day you were born.”  The creature looked at him, a small smirk appearing at the aghast expression on Ben’s face.

“What do you mean?” Ben asked.

“You can try to deny it all you want but the moment that those predictions were made, you have been the slave to everyone’s agenda.”

“I’m no slave to anyone’s agenda.” Ben responded; those predictions had been insights in his future, a future created by the choices he made.

“Oh but you are.” The air around them became colder. “Tell me, how did you meet your suitors?” The creature asked, beginning a slow walk around Ben.

“On my 10th birthday.”

“Exactly as Yoda predicted. The Mandalorian girl, Rey, how did you first encounter her?”

“Obi-Wan introduced me to her.” Ben answered, fear pooling in him when he realized where the creature was heading with this train of thought.

“Yes… but why bother waiting to introduce you? He had already promised you would meet her several years before that; why specifically your tenth birthday? Why wait until that moment unless he was taking advantage of the predictions?” The creature paused for a moment. “The Genian Queen… you met her when her bracelet fell near you. But was that truly an accident? And the gardener boy you met, was that a chance meeting too? No, you only met him because I wanted you to. Deny it as much as you wish; you’re just a puppet to the whims and wishes of others.”

Ben wanted to retort, say something that would tell the creature he was wrong, but the more he dwelled on the words, the more he realized the truth to them. Obi-Wan had been saying he would introduce Rey to him since he began training at the Jedi temple so why did he wait for so many years to fulfill that promise unless he was waiting for Ben’s 10th birthday? Armitage… he only encountered him because the creature lured him out to the garden

But…

The bracelet… Ben found it difficult to believe that Ajit would purposely make Paro lose a bracelet and make it roll towards him; Ben would be the last person Ajit would want Paro to meet.

“Did I ever say it was the former King that made that bracelet fall?” The creature said. “If I recall correctly, the Chancellor was present when Yoda looked into your future and close confidants were present at your 10th birthday and wasn’t it the Chancellor who asked you to come to Ge? Why would she sent you, a Jedi with no knowledge of trade or politics, to be her personal delivery boy? To send a message in hopes of making a trade agreement? No,” He said softly, coming to stand behind Ben and placing his hands upon Ben’s shoulder, “she wanted you to be around Paro, in hopes that you would fall for her and be the one you would marry when you turned 18. She wants the clypsoate and you are her path to getting it.”

“Don’t touch me!” Ben snapped, pushing the creature away from him.

“I’m only trying to help you, Ben.” The creature said calmly. “I trying to help you see the truth.”

“I’ve heard and seen enough.” Ben answered, feeling angry but hurt simultaneously, “and there is some truth in what you say but you’re wrong.”

“Am I though?” The creature lifted his hand and the vivid image of his nightmare of Paro’s attack appeared in front of him. The creature smirked when he saw tears form in Ben’s eyes. “The Force gave you this vision but you couldn’t save your friend from a lifetime of blindness. The other two visions you had of her became reality. Are you truly in control? Is the Force not pulling the strings on your wrists just as much as everyone else in your life? Very well,” the creature waved his hand again and the image of the dream morphed into the recurring nightmare of Rey and Obi Wan dying in the ball of fire, “save them. Stop their fiery grave.”

Ben tore his gaze away from the intimidating image, wanting to scream something, anything at the creature but he was gone and he was standing in his room on Ge, facing the locked door. His mind was spinning with confusion and anger at what the creature had told him but he couldn’t fret about that now.

He had to get to Mandalore.

He had to save them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come bug me on Tumblr: [petalouda85.tumblr.com](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My semester is finished and school won’t start up again until September so there should be more writing coming from me. Maybe I’ll even be able to finish this story before that time. Who knows? We’ll see. Anyway, I wrote out a deleted scene that had been intended for chapter 13. Link is [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14311935). In addition, I’m planning out a few extra scenes for this story as well so hopefully some of those will be showing up soon too; a lot of them will be centered around Nikolai as I have put a lot of effort into creating him and his background that it’d be a waste to not write out any of it.   
> I had a lot of trouble writing this so forgive the less than ideal quality of it.  
> Warning for this chapter: there is a character death. Maybe grab some tissues before you read?

When the vision had dissipated and he had calmed down, Ben knew what he had to do: he had to get to Mandalore, tell Obi-Wan and Rey what he had seen and save them from the fate the creature had shown him. Due to some lingering panic, it took a while for everything to be organized and prepared but eventually, everything was ready for an immediate depart of the planet.

A part of him wished he could just leave without a word – Sarika would definitely appreciate it – but given what had happened, he couldn’t do that; it would convince Paro that the reasoning behind his departure was because of the kiss. He was still burning with shame and embarrassment at his actions and he couldn’t leave without addressing it; the idea of doing it made him sick to his stomach.

Having no doubt that the news of his departure had already spread through the palace, he headed towards the landing pad, thinking that Paro might be waiting there for him. His assumption was correct.

Paro was standing alone, appearing more calm and collected than she had been a few hours prior. Her back was turned to him but as soon as he stepped onto the pad, she turned to face him.

Unable to read her expression and uncertain what to say, he merely approached her, stopping at a respectable distance.

“Paro,” he finally said after an aching silence, “I wanted to say I’m sorry for what I did. It was rude and uncalled for and against the rules of your planet. And I’m not leaving because of it – it’s for something entirely different – but I couldn’t leave before saying sorry and I can easily understand if you don’t accept it but-“ His ramblings came to a sudden stop when Paro placed a hand on his shoulder.

“While I am still upset at what you did,” she began slowly, “I’m not angry with you and I hope that we don’t part here with our friendship tattered.”

It took Ben a moment to fully comprehend her answer but when he did, he smiled. Carefully, the two embraced each other.

“I though you would be angry with me.”

“I was,” Paro admitted, “but anger never lasts long for me. Perks of being a Bendu; very good anger management.” The two chuckled before falling into a comfortable silence, neither of them moving. “It was good to see you, Ben.”

The Alderaan Prince said nothing in response but no words were needed for him to share the sentiment with her. Once they parted and the ship was headed to the gate, he felt more hopeful that their friendship would recover from this little mishap.

But as the ship inched closer to Mandalore, whatever relief he had felt at the launch pad was gone, his reasons for going to the planet finally becoming fully realized. His mind began racing so fast he could hardly keep track of the thoughts going through it.

What if Rey and Obi-Wan weren’t there? If they were there, how would he tell them what he knew; he couldn’t exactly say ‘I saw you are going to die’. Or could he? Would they even believe him? What if they found out he had been having that vision for months now? What if the vision as completely wrong and nothing would happen to them? It was a possibility but the other visions he had had in the past had all come true, the events in reality playing out the same or nearly the same as they had in the visions. What were the odds that this vision would be any different? The thoughts did little to calm him.

He attempted to meditate, the practice having helped in the past to center himself but this time, whenever his mind drifted to a place of perceived calm, the voice of the creature with the malformed face taunted him.

_Save them, Ben. Save them if you can._

_I will save them_

_How do you know?_

_I will save them. Not you nor the Force will stop me._

_You are facing forces that you do not know or understand. You cannot save them. You shall see, young Solo. You shall see._

The voice stopped and he was immediately returned to the ship, the suddenness giving Ben a small headache. It had only felt like it had lasted mere seconds but upon looking out a nearby viewport, he was pleasantly surprised to see that the ship was already on Mandalore and heading to a landing pad in the vicinity of Rey’s home.

His elation was short-lived as he reminded himself of the reasons he had come to the planet in the first place. Now the descent seemed to be going too slowly. Once it had finally landed, the teen didn’t even wait for the door to touch the ground; once it was open far enough, he leapt from the ship.

A group of people, whom he suspected worked for the Grand Duke and his family, came up to him to greet him but the leader of the group had barely begun his scripted welcome when Ben demanded,

“Where’s Rey?”                                                                                                                                                   

“She might be in her room but she could have left already.” The man’s volume had rapidly increased towards the end of the sentence as Ben had run past him once he had given him a location; the teen had barely even heard the last half of it. Running and bumping into people, Ben ran where his instincts took him. He ended up lost several times, having never been to Rey’s home before, but he felt her presence within the building, though that did little to ease his nerves as he could sense that Obi-Wan was no longer here.

He continued to run, relief flowing through him when he finally spotted Rey in the millionth hallway he had run through. She was heading towards the exit.

“Rey!” The teen turned around and looked surprised and happy to see her friend.

“Ben? What are you doing here?” She asked happily, running towards him to embrace him. But instead of a hug, Ben frantically placed his hands on her shoulder.

“Where’s Obi-Wan?”

“He left a few minutes ago attend the opening of the new parliamentary building.” Rey answered, her excitement merging into confusion. “Why?”

“He needs to come back here. Now!”

“Why?”

“Look,” Ben responded quickly, pausing to try to make his frantic mind calmer. “There is no easy or subtle way to say this: I had a force vision where you and Obi-Wan die.”

“What!?” Rey screamed.

But before Ben could explain further, a deafening roar of an explosion was heard. The glass windows rattled, a nearby statue fell over, and the floor shook as if an earthquake was happening. In a flash, Ben had yanked Rey towards him, turning his back to the windows for fear of the glass shattering. They didn’t move until the rattling ceased, standing quietly in shock for a few seconds when Rey ran out the exit, Ben following her soon after. His stomach fell when he saw the large cloud of black smoke rising from a building not far from where he stood.

Something similar must’ve gone through Rey’s mind as she dashed off into the direction of the smoke.

“Rey!” Ben screamed, quickly running after her, just barely able to keep her in sight. By the time they reached the site, she had disappeared.

It was absolute chaos, people crowding and screaming and trying to reach the site while police tried to keep everything under control and firefighters tried to douse the flames that were gorging on the already ruined building. The air was thick with smoke, dust and ash pricked Ben’s eyes and the stench of fire and explosives was pungent. Shutting out the chaos, he searched for his friend, eventually deciding to head in the direction of a makeshift tent where the injured had been gathered. Reaching out through the Force confirmed that Rey was there but he became nervous when he noted he was unable to sense Obi-Wan.

He found Rey kneeling by her father, the Grand Duke of Mandalore. Other than an injury on his head that appeared to be bleeding and a look of shock at what had happened, the elder man seemed to be in perfect health.

 “What happened?” Rey asked as Ben approached the two, dabbing a red cloth to the man’s bleeding wound. The man hissed when the cloth touched him.

“Explosion.” He answered, “I was about to speak when it happened. No warning, no one suspicious; whoever did this must’ve planted them during construction.”

“We can worry about who did it and how they did it later. Where is grandpa?” Rey asked. “Where is he!?” She demanded when her father didn’t answer. The man remained silent and stayed still, Ben dreading what the man would answer. When the man finally turned his head and the two followed his gaze, the Prince collapsed to his knees.

Lying there, among the bodies of the dead, was Obi-Wan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come bug me on Tumblr: [petalouda85.tumblr.com](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com)


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!!!! No, I’m not dead and this story is no longer on its (unexpected and unplanned) hiatus!!! I guess I just took a random break (a much-needed one, I believe). But I’m back with a new chapter! It’s been so long since I worked on it that I may have forgotten a few details of where this story was headed but I promise, I’ll attempt to put up the next chapter sooner. I’m taking a creative writing class in my current semester and it really resparked my desire to write so that’ll hopefully lead to more updates and more writing from me.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Maybe grab a tissue?

It was the Deathwatch.

A few days had passed since the explosion and the victims weren’t even resting in their final resting places when the Mandalorian government received an ominous message from the leader of the terrorist group. In the brief message, the leader claimed responsibility for the explosion and listed their reasons

“ _Our Supreme Leader wants the Kenobis gone_.” They had said and it was quickly followed with another threat of an attack against the family in the future. With that, the message ended, leaving those who had listened angry, saddened and concerned. It didn’t take long for them to spring into action, ordering searches and putting the army on high alert even though there was no guarantee that the threat was legitimate; they weren’t willing to risk it.

While the government began to prepare for the threat, the rest of Mandalore mourned and buried their dead.

12 had died, Obi-Wan included, and, though the government starkly opposed in light of the new threat, the Jedi Master would be laid to rest at the Jedi Temple. Regardless of his familial ties, he was, first and foremost, a Jedi and Rey, Luke and Yoda were determined that he would be treated as such. It took some arguing but the government eventually agreed to let Obi-Wan’s body to return to the temple and for Rey to return as well to attend her grandfather’s funeral but they only agreed if the entourage went with extra protection.

It wasn't a prospect she was thrilled about and given any other circumstance, she would've protested but she never uttered so much as a syllable when the government proposed the idea of a protective squad, only humming a vague yes and letting her disdain be known through glares and even more vague facial expressions.

For the entire journey to the Temple, she was silent and alternated between sitting in a small, silent corner and sitting at the dejarik table which was only a few steps away. Ben attempted to speak with her, sitting himself down beside her at the dejarik table with the hope that she would accept some words of comfort but Rey would either not respond or move further away. It didn't take long for Ben to stop trying, resigning himself to sit in his spot and stare at the floor while the guilt set in.

This was all his fault. If only he could've gotten to Mandalore sooner... if he hadn't ignored his visions, Obi-Wan would still be alive. The Force had been warning him, telling him to act and he ignored it. And now, his Master was dead and his friend refused to talk to him.

Upon arriving at the Temple, the two were greeted by Luke and Yoda, both masters looking worn, weary and filled with sorrow. When the ramp was down, Luke stepped forward towards Rey but the teen ignored him, stepping around him and briskly heading into the Temple; she was gone for the rest of the night.

The funeral occurred the next day. With all the Padawans, Knights and Masters present, the rites were performed, ending with the pyre where the body would be burned. As the fire slowly began to consume the body, everyone stood in silence, the sniffles of the younger Padawans being drowned out by the crackle of the flames.

Rey was the first to leave, only minutes after the pyre had been lit. Throughout the entire funeral, she had been standing quietly, not even shedding a tear or making a sniffle as her grandfather was laid to rest before her. But when the pyre was lit, she left the room, her sudden movement making many heads turn. Ben was quick to follow her.

Though he had left only seconds after she had, Rey had already walked the entire length of the hallway and was about to disappear around the corner.

"Rey! Wait!" Ben yelled out to her, elated when she stopped at his calling. “Are you okay?” Slowly, she turned around, her gaze to the ground though, even with the distance, he could see that she was crying.

“How long did you know?” She said softly.

“I don’t-“ Ben started, trying to feign ignorance but Rey shouted,

“How long!?”

“A few months.”

“A few… months. You knew this would happen, for a few _months_ , and you never bothered to tell me?”

“I wanted to tell you. I really did but-“

“But what?” Rey snapped back, finally looking at him in the eye with rage. “What good is your ‘but’? You knew this would happen and did nothing and now, my grandfather is gone!”

“Rey-” The slap quickly stopped whatever words he had wanted to say and whatever thought he carried. As his cheek stung, Rey let out a small sob, her composure breaking.

“Just spare me the excuses and leave me alone.”

Before Ben could even formulate a response, Rey ran off, running down the hall and disappearing around the corner, the echoes of her sobs still loud in his ears long after she had vanished.

For a time, Ben just stood there, frozen in shock and his mind rattling and rampaging with too many emotions to identify. Somehow, he remembered to move and he wandered, not caring where he was going, just that he kept moving. His eventual destination turned out to be the garden; it seemed that whenever he was in turmoil, no matter how small, the garden was the place where he went. Whether he was upset or confused, the garden he went to. It always brought him a sense of a peaceful mind. Even if he didn’t find a solution during his visit, he usually left with a less turbulent mind.

But not this time.

Upon entering the garden, he didn’t find peace. He only found tears. Stumbling over towards the nearest solid surface (a statue of an ancient Jedi), he let himself weep loudly. He cried tears for Obi-Wan, for Rey and everything else in his life that he had been holding in for too long.

The creature in his visions had been right all along; the control he had was just a façade.

“Ben.”

With a gasp, the weeping teen turned around, expecting the dark void and the creature to be there but, much to his relief, he saw his uncle. Ben immediately threw himself into the man’s arms and weeping loudly into his shoulder, barely noticing Luke embracing him back. The teen must’ve been putting much of his weight on the man as Luke eventually led him to a bench and had him sit down.

“Just let it out.” Luke whispered as Ben continued to cry, though not as intensely as before. Eventually, he did stop but refused to let his uncle go. “It’s alright, Ben. You’re alright.”

“No, I’m not alright.” Ben croaked.

“It’ll get easier.” Luke said, his tone filled with a sad optimism. “Losing someone… it never gets easier but it will become more manageable.” It was slightly comforting to Ben to hear it; considering how many people his uncle had lost in his life, it was reassuring to hear it. But even with the small assurance, the guilt he felt was still as potent as before. No doubt his uncle sensed it as he soon asked why he felt so much guilt. Slowly and with hesitance, Ben told him what Rey had said to him and confessed to the visions he had seen about Obi-Wan’s death and the terrible emotions he felt towards it.

“It’s tearing me apart.”

“Ben,” Luke said firmly, “you didn’t know it would happen this way. Visions are fickle things and they’re not reliable. What happened, it wasn’t your fault and it never will be. One vision or a hundred, this isn’t your fault.”

“Do you think she will ever talk to me again?”

“She will. Just give her time; this needs to find its place first.” Ben nodded and the two quickly found themselves back in an embrace. They just sat their quietly, hugging each other.

“Ben, I’ve been thinking,” Luke said, “maybe you should go home for a little while.”

“What?”

“Considering all that has happened, I believe this isn’t the place you should be.”

“But… my training…”

“It can wait. This needs to find its place for you too and I’d prefer it if you did that at home. And I’m saying this, not just as your master, but as your uncle.”

“Alright.” Ben said after he had pondered the thought for some time, realizing that his uncle was right. “I’ll go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come bug me on Tumblr: [petalouda85.tumblr.com](http://petalouda85.tumblr.com)
> 
> And if any of you are interested, here's a link to the collection of deleted and extra scenes I have written for this fic:   
> [KNY Deleted and Extra Scenes](https://archiveofourown.org/series/996300)


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